Seventh Code (2013): file under the category of “good one-hour movies.”
Shot and filmed in Russia, a young Japanese woman named Akiko (Atsuko Maeda, pop singer and former member of girl group AKB48) races into frame, dragging a suitcase behind her. She is in pursuit of a Japanese man in a suit, Matsunaga (Ryohei Suzuki) who she is obsessed with. When they meet, she explains: one night, they met back in Japan, and he asked her out to dinner but never followed through. So, she has been trying to find him ever since. From there, things don’t go as planned… or maybe they do?
To say anything more would be a disservice as part of what makes the film an entertaining ride is how the story shifts and turns over the course of its short running time. Directed by Japanese filmmaker, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who is best known for horror films like Cure and Pulse, but has also been involved in other genres like drama, romance, sci-fi, etc. Here, Seventh Code is Kurosawa is making a bit of a lark here, playing around with audience expectations and several genres in the tradition of a 1960s Jean-Luc Godard or a 1970s Jacques Rivette thing: is this a comedy, a drama, a thriller, a piece of pop star promotion, etc? Throughout, there are still clear elements of style and tonal weight, particularly the use of orchestral music to make certain scenes carry a sense of grandeur, even if it’s just two people talking in a restaurant, or walking to a train station. Maeda is an engaging lead presence, and moves with the playful nature of the film’s narrative: amusingly mysterious and throwaway fun, but with still some sense of substance, particularly in its underlying theme of dislocation and disorientation in another country.
There’s a copy available to watch on YouTube. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 