SYNOPSIS:
Chiba is a Grim Reaper. He always appears seven
days before a person dies an unexpected death. His job is
to observe the person for seven days and then decide either
to 'execute' or 'pass over' the death. He enjoys going to
the listening booth of a CD shop and indulges in his favourite
pastime; listening to music.
Today, again in the rain he waits for his new subject, Kazue
Fujiki, age 27. She works in the complaints department of
a manufacturing company. Exhasuted after her day, she emerges
from her office and then encountering Chiba for the first
time...
MOVIE REVIEW:
Death never looks so good that is if it comes in the form
of Asia’s most bankable star, Takeshi Kaneshiro. Takeshi
plays Chiba, a grim reaper whose job is to determine a person’s
final fate if he or she is 'chosen' to die after seven days.
To proceed or pass over?
If
the Hollywood version of the Grim Reaper, "Meet Joe Black"
puts you off, fret not because "Accuracy of Death"
never actually feels so draggy and grim despite the subject
title. As ironic as it sounds, this screen adaptation of a
best-selling Japanese novel is a light-heartened take on the
subject of 'Death' and 'Life'. Most probably, it’s due
to Takeshi’s charming portrayal of Chiba.
While
waiting for his subject, Chiba’s favourite pastime is
listening to music at CD shops, according to him its humanity’s
greatest invention. The man who started his career as a pop
singer and dabbling in forgettable comedic roles has proven
his acting chops over the years in notable productions such
as Zhang Yimou’s "House of Flying Daggers"
and Peter Chan’s "Perhaps Love" is right at
ease as the charismatic, slightly goofy grim reaper. Be it
a simple scene of him swinging to contemporary music or his
exaggeration depiction of a small-time gangster, Takeshi seems
to nail them on the spot.
And
did I mention the story is neatly spilt into three somehow
unrelated stories? Whenever Chiba and his faithful companion
or should I say working partner, a black Labrador opens a
door to our world, its time for them to handle a new subject.
If "Accuracy of Death" is trying to spread a message
to us, perhaps it’s a subtle warning that we should
not take our life for granted. A purpose in life does make
a lot of difference.
Beautifully
shot with plenty of artificial created rain sequences and
a nice decent theme song that will spin in your head for days,
"Accuracy of Death" is definitely something refreshing
coming out from the land of the rising sun.
Chiba’s
favourite line in the movie: "What do you think about
death?" Simply intriguing and thoughtful.
Thus
after all the things I have said, you want to proceed or pass
over "Accuracy of Death"?
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains the original trailers,
a photo gallery, a 10 minutes interview
session with Takeshi Kaneshiro (with English subtitles)
and sadly, a short 5 minutes behind-the-scenes
featurette. We want more.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
audio is presented in Dolby Digital but since this is not
a big bang boom movie, the serene music score accompanying
the dialogue is soothing to the ears. It comes with an alternative
Mandarin track but pity Takeshi never dubbed it himself. There
are some artifacts spotted along the way but nothing too serious
to mar your viewing pleasure.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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