Cloud/Charisma: Two Films by Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Eureka

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese filmmaker who, despite being best known in the West for his horror films, has dabbled in a wide range of genres. He tends to subvert these though, to create a singular body of work that remains stamped by his distinctive trademark.

Eureka have released a number of Kurosawa’s films in the past (Cure, Tokyo Sonata, Creepy and Journey to the Shore) and are now putting out a double-header (at least in this initial limited release) with a set including 1999’s Charisma and the director’s more recent 2024 film, Cloud.

I got hold of a copy of the set, and my thoughts follow.

Charisma

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Screenplay: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Ren Ôsugi, Yoriko Dôguchi, Jun Fubuki, Akira Ôtaka, Yutaka Matsushige
Country: Japan
Running Time:103 min
Year: 1999

To quote Eureka’s online blurb, “Charisma follows Goro Yabuike (Koji Yakusho), an overworked police officer who leaves his job behind after he fails to resolve a hostage situation, resulting in the deaths of both a high-profile politician and his captor. Reeling from this incident, he seeks solitude in a mountain forest, where he finds himself at the centre of a conflict over an enigmatic tree that the locals have named “Charisma”.”

Kurosawa claims he originally wrote the script for Charisma almost a decade before its release, with an aim to create his own spin on an Indiana Jones inspired adventure. There’s little evidence of that now though. Instead, the film is a highly unusual tale that feels like it’s a metaphor for something else. What that something else is can be open to interpretation, aided by the fact that many details are kept at arm’s reach from the viewer. This enigmatic quality makes for a film that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining (it’s not lacking in dark or surreal humour).

Reportedly, Kurosawa has said the film symbolises his political views. There’s a clear generational divide between characters in the film, which might represent the differing ideologies of these groups. I felt like it could be seen now as a metaphor for today’s society, where extreme views clash, and it has become difficult to maintain and gain results from a centrist viewpoint. This wouldn’t have been intentional though, given the age of the film, but, as mentioned, the audience can take what they like from the story and its characters.

I wasn’t 100% sold on Charisma though. I often find Kurosawa’s films start incredibly well but don’t always nail the landing, with final acts that go off the rails somewhat. I felt that was the case here. I don’t want to spoil anything, but when some major circumstances change in the latter third or so, I felt the story got a little too messy and bizarre for its own good.

Charisma is, otherwise, as finely crafted as you might expect from Kurosawa. The pace is deliberate, but the story and characters are compelling enough to keep you watching. Whilst there are some of the director’s favoured carefully-composed static shots, there are also some well-conceived and executed camera moves.

Overall, whilst I appreciated the elusive, thought-provoking qualities of Charisma and found it as elegantly produced as the rest of Kurosawa’s work, it lost me a little towards the end as it crescendos into a bizarre jumble of ideas. It’s a film that may well improve on repeated viewings though.

Film:

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Screenplay: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring: Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, Masaaki Akahori, Mutsuo Yoshioka
Country: Japan
Running Time: 124 min
Year: 2024

Quoting once again from Eureka, “In Cloud, factory worker Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) quits his job to pursue a new career as an unscrupulous online reseller, becoming increasingly ruthless as he turns a profit from desperate customers. Eventually, though, those customers have had enough of being ripped off by Yoshii – and go looking for him to exact their revenge.”

Cloud is very much a film of two halves. It begins in a typically slow-paced and intriguing fashion, as we watch Ryosuke coldly expand his reseller business. However, when his selfish dealings come back to haunt him, the film surprisingly turns into an action movie.

Indeed, Kurosawa has said that he intended to make an action film when he first began developing Cloud, even if the script shows little suggestion of this in its curious initial half. The second half certainly fits this mould though, even if it plays with some of the genre’s conventions. Unfortunately, in my opinion at least, it’s not the world’s most exciting or dynamic action movie. I’m not sure such a style is a strongpoint for the typically more subdued Kurosawa. Much like with Charisma then, I felt that the latter half of the film didn’t quite live up to the first.

The action isn’t ‘bad’, so to speak, I just think that others have done it better. The film is otherwise excellent. Like Pulse, Cloud takes aim at the modern, internet age. Mirroring the facelessness of online society, Yoshii has little interest in real human interaction. He has a girlfriend, Akiko (Kotone Furukawa), and provides for her, but doesn’t actually seem all that interested in her as a person. He has little care for his customers too, only being interested in whether or not his wares switch to ‘sold’ on his screen. Likewise, his victims show little compassion for Yoshii when they call for his blood in the latter half of the film.

Cloud could also be seen as making a comment on the selfish nature of capitalism, more generally. The quest for ‘easy money’ comes at the expense of someone else’s happiness, and the rewards offer little joy, regardless.

Overall then, Cloud is a peculiar fable about the apathy of the modern age. I wasn’t wholly convinced by the way it panned out, but, overall, it’s a compelling, often hard to second-guess tale made with Kurosawa’s usual deft hand.

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