Kaneko's Commissary Dir. Go Furukawa. Japan. 2024. 125mins Opening scenes of writer/director Go Furukawa's redemptive drama Kaneko's Commissary establ
Kaneko’s Commissary
Dir. Go Furukawa. Japan. 2024. 125mins
Opening scenes of writer/director Go Furukawa’s redemptive drama Kaneko’s Commissary establish the particulars of Japan’s prison visitation system, highlighting the challenges posed by a lack of reservation system and restricted visiting hours.
The story follows Shinji Kaneko, a former prisoner who now runs a commissary that supplies items to inmates and acts as a liaison for their families. However, his life is disrupted when his son’s young classmate goes missing and is later found dead, leading to a murder investigation.
A member of the idol group Super Eight, Ryuehi Maruyama brings a suitably raw and credible performance to the role, drawing parallels with Viggo Mortensen’s portrayal in A History of Violence.
The film’s strong cast, including Yoko Maki, Takumi Kitamura, and Toshie Negishi, is surrounded by subplots involving Shinji’s troubled family background and a grisly murder committed by a recently released yakuza.
Furukawa’s direction evokes comparisons to Departures, a 2008 Oscar-winning film about a mortician facing social stigma. In Kaneko’s Commissary, the protagonist is a prisoner turned commissary owner, tackling the stigma surrounding those who deal with prisoners.
Despite its well-acted and sincere intentions, the film struggles with pacing and tone, veering into episodic territory. Conversations with the remorseless murderer, Takashi, take the film into psychological thriller territory, but lack the thrills and tension expected of the genre.
Furukawa does, however, excel in portraying Shinji’s neighbourhood as a microcosm of Japanese society, highlighting the adherence to group norms and the shame culture that treats relatives of criminals as responsible for their actions.
The film concludes with a message rebuking those who criticize commissary services, stating that society is the true problem, and not those who supply the services.
Production company: Kadokawa
International sales: Free Stone Productions, fsp-sales@freestone.jp
Producers: Naoto Inaba, Yasunori Naruse, Yuko Hiroaka
Cinematography: Tomoo Ezaki
Production design: Takamasa Suzumura
Editing: Tomoka Konishi
Music: Benjamin Bedoussac
Main cast: Ryuhei Maruyama, Yoko Maki, Kira Miura, Takumi Kitamura, Toshie Negishi, Goro Kishitani, Akira Terao
FAQs
- What is the main plot of the movie?
- The movie follows Shinji Kaneko, a former prisoner who runs a commissary for prisoners, as he becomes entangled in a murder investigation after his son’s classmate is found dead.
- Who is the lead actor in the movie?
- Ryuhei Maruyama
- What themes are explored in the film?
- Stigma, redemption, and the treatment of prisoners and their families in Japanese society.
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