Image provided by Fantasia Film Festival
His Bad Blood is the most delightful of cruel films. Throughout its run time it assaults the viewer with cruelty aimed at one of its protagonists, while making the antagonist exceptionally cruel. This splits the viewer as the film tries to hurtle itself towards a reconciliation between these two characters. Just when we think the antagonist might change his ways, he viciously squeezes a woman’s head. Just when we think the protagonist is going to catch a break, he lets the emotional beating he’s received damage his confidence. It’s an exhausting watch, but a rewarding one.
Starting with a sepia tinged palette, we find a man rushing to the birth of his nephew. He then goes to track down the child’s father, Hiroshi (Ikkei Watanabe), only to find Hiroshi is planning on taking off with the family savings. Hunted by the close knit community, Hiroshi is beaten but saved from certain death by the local reverend. Fast forward many years later and Hiroshi’s son, Shinichi (Yu Toyama) is all grown up. Unfortunately, Shinichi has been tarnished by his father’s reputation and is constantly belittled and reminded of his father’s deeds. Meanwhile, Hiroshi has been leading a small group of conmen, running fairly small time hustles. When things go bad for both Shinichi and Hiroshi, they seek sanctuary with the reverend, unknowing of how they are related.
Koichiro Oyama’s directing debut is one of the most precarious balancing acts seen in cinema for a long time. Scenes go from funny to shocking to downright uncomfortable, and although the turnaround is fast, there are transitions of emotion for the audience to experience. One early scene sees Hiroshi involved in a rather simple ploy of convincing a couple they have damaged a priceless vase in the smallest of car accidents (a very slight bump). The hilarity of his brazenness soon turns to discomfort as he grabs a woman by the face, only for comedy to rise again as the woman’s partner flees. It’s a brave tactic for a first feature.
Watanabe instills Hiroshi with a grand sense of unlikable traits, but never crosses the line to make him repulsive. He carries the character with an air of childlike cheekiness that often spills over into uncontrollable viciousness. Oyama never deceives us, as each ‘harmless’ hustle shows off genuine consequences and pain caused to the innocent marks. In contrast, Toyama plays Shinichi with the greatest of meek subtlety. He looks forever beaten down but rarely lets his frustrations become visible. Once the two share the scene, we’re all ready for a redemption story, but Oyama keeps his feet on the ground. There are no easy resolutions here.
Beautifully shot and with a sharp wit, His Bad Blood tackles its themes very well. It looks at the toxic nature of close knit communities, the difficulty of shedding reputations, and questions easy solutions. Although the kind hearted reverend attempts to guide Hiroshi away from a life of deception, Hiroshi plots his own cynical play on the deception of religion. The film’s Japanese title ‘Itsukushimi Fukaki’ translates as Merciful, and is the title used for the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus, an ironic choice as it certainly isn’t a merciful film, and the mob mentality of the religious town is anything but.
His Bad Blood was reviewed at the 2019 Fantasia Film Festival.
