Director Toshiaki Toyoda, best known for his violent high school drama Blue SPring, is a master of the bait and switch. He has an uncanny ability to lull you into believing you're going one way while all the while he's actually leading you somewhere else, an ability that he uses to full effect in his latest film.
The story of "9 Souls" begins with Michiru, a troubled youth most likely suffering from some sort of mental illness and whose world is a dark, bleak and hopeless place. Michiru kills his own father and is sent to prison where he must share a crowded cell with nine other convicts. Shortly after one of their cellmates - a forger who often bragged about having a large amount of money stashed in a student time capsule at Mt. Fuji Elementary School - is dragged off to solitary confinement, the remaining nine make a break for it and, of course, hit the road in search of the hidden money.
Through the course of their journey we get to know Michiru's cell mates - the diminutive doctor imprisoned for assisting suicide, the man who killed his own son, the biker, the bomber, a pimp, a pornographer, and a gambling cheat - and begin to get a feel for the odd dynamics that keep this group together. The group finds the time capsule in relatively short order, but where this would be the end of most road movies, we quickly realize that it is only the beginning of Toyoda's odyssey. What was set up as the group's goal was nothing but a device to keep us paying attention while he let us get to know his group of characters.
There is, of course, no money to be found, and upon this discovery, we move into the real meat of the film. "9 Souls" is a simply stunning character study, introducing us to very flawed but incredibly fleshed-out and realistic characters who are now, thanks to their newfound freedom, forced to think seriously about their hopes, their dreams, and the consequences of their earlier actions. We see firsthand just how damaged these people are and just how much of that damage they inflicted upon themselves as they wrestle with their own histories and variously attempt to run and hide, pick up where they left off, start a new life, or make reparations.
Toyoda is a good enough director and a smart enough writer that there are no easy solutions here, no cheap copouts. There will be no easy ride off into the sunset. These are real people who have left damaged families, jilted lovers, and dark secrets behind. Their faces are all over the media and the police are slowly but surely hunting them down. The simple fact that these men will be recaptured lends a deep emotional heft to their journey, a quiet sadness to their actions. That Toyoda is smart enough to simply present their stories without comment or judgment only amplifies this emotional depth. We see both sides of the story and are free to empathize with the characters without minimizing their criminal histories.
"9 Souls" is only Toyoda's third feature and he shows an impressive grasp of his craft. He's got style to burn as he demonstrates in scenes such as the rapidly-cut, layered-on text character introduction/prison break out sequence and Michiru's casually instructing clouds as to what shape they should take next. But he has the smarts to never let the style impede the substance of his story. He is a wildly impressive writer, creating a full range of incredibly fleshed out characters despite having only limited screentime to work with each. He has a natural sense of pacing and emotion and trusts his audience enough to never talk down to them or oversimplify the proceedings.
Artsmagic gives the film the high quality treatment we've come to expect from them. The transfer is solid and 16x9 enhanced, there are a pair of interviews with writer / director Toyoda, and a solid full length commentary by Midnight Eye's Tom Mes. Toyoda's got two films in the works for 2005 and given the huge strides he's taken from film to film thus far my money says these will be two of the more significant films of the year ...
[A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on Opus following the film's appearance at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival.]