Rent 9 Souls (2003)
3.6 of 5 from 57 ratings
1h 59min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Nine convicts escape from prison; most are convicted murders. Their plan is to find a stash of counterfeit money that a deranged cell mate told them about, divide it, then part ways. Though one by one, each seeks out the place he wants to be, a version of home, somewhere to connect. Will it end well for any of them?
- Actors:
- Yoshio Harada, Ryûhei Matsuda, Genta Dairaku, Yû Fujiki, Asami Imajuku, Jun Inoue, Itsuji Itao, Misaki Itô, Chihara Junia, Kazuki Kitamura, Jun Kunimura, Kotomi Kyôno, Akaji Maro, Takako Matsu, Fumihito Minamitsuji, Eita, Yûsuke Ohshiba, Ichi Omiya, Onimaru, Kiyohiko Shibukawa
- Directors:
- Toshiaki Toyoda
- Producers:
- Miyoshi Kikuchi, Keisuke Konishi
- Writers:
- Toshiaki Toyoda
- Aka:
- Nain souruzu
- Studio:
- Artsmagic Ltd.
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama
- Countries:
- Japan
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/01/2005
- Run Time:
- 119 minutes
- Languages:
- Japanese DTS-HD High Resolution 2.0
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
- Making Of
- Outtakes
- Original Japanese Trailer
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Reviews (1) of 9 Souls
Confused? You Will Be! If You Survive of Course - 9 Souls review by Strovey
9 Souls is over twenty years old and it has to be said now and probably then any western viewer with no real immersion into Japanese society would find it odd. I suspect a lot of Japanese viewers would find it so too. You must watch the full run time to realise that the biggest problem, which is probably deliberate, is the tone we are presented with. Initially it is in a comic vein, albeit with an unpleasant edge, but the film becomes unpleasant, bloody and violent, which you are not entirely expecting. The story and film and the way it meanders gets confusing. Situations arise, disappear and you are not really sure how they happened or why.
At the beginning the ‘boxouts’ for the prisoners as they are literally on the run says their name and what their crime is but as we proceed these crimes do not tally with the character and what he says he did. Presumably this is deliberate.
The main point of the story seems to be do not search out your past as you will be disappointed or even meet a worse fate. Your past dreams should stay in your past.
I think.
The pace of the film is off and very in and out and add in situations that seem to come out of the blue with no prior reference or set up and anyone viewing is going to be confused and bit thrown off at some point.
The acting is fine, often the acting seems to be melodramatic with big gestures and so forth and I take that to be cultural but perhaps I am wrong. The scenery and setting are different, certainly not big city Japan but more rural and often looking a bit poor and run down – you do not always get this side of the country shown.
All in all, 9 Souls is watchable, I enjoyed some of the characters ‘journeys’ but I felt the violence and blood at the end was very much at odds to the early film and as such unnecessary.
Definitely strange, I am happy I watched it, I probably would not seek it out again though. I love Japanese films and filmmaking, and it is not often I say this about one.
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