NYFF preview. I Just Didn't Do It.

"In I Just Didn't Do It [site], Ryo Kase (dancing Takefumi from Funky Forest) plays Teppei, an alleged groper of a schoolgirl who finds himself up against a legal system that boasts a 99.9% conviction rate," writes Filmbrain. "Though shouted at and browbeaten by detectives and prosecutors alike..., he still believes the truth will set him free.... Back in 1996 I decried that the god-awful Shall We Dance (director Masayuki Suo's previous film) would result in the death of Japanese cinema as we know it. Fair enough, I was wrong. Still, it's wonderful to see what a difference ten years makes. I Just Didn't Do It is the antithesis of that film, devoid of the feel-good syrupy sentimentality that oozed from every frame. Exposé, cautionary tale, and procedural all rolled into one, I Just Didn't Do It is a study in the abuse of state power that no fan of Foucault should miss."

Updated through 9/27.

"It's a tragic tale of a society at large, one so obsessed with the micromanagement and/or eradication of vague behaviors that it frequently loses its ability to mete out proper and considered justice," writes Keith Uhlich at the House Next Door. "That the film's actions are couched in a familiar and fascinating vein of Japanese politeness only makes its defiant closing passages (as much an appeal to a higher power as to a mortal one) that much more powerful."

"Suo's critique of the Japanese legal system is devastating, though he refuses to single out any one group for blame," writes Alison Willmore at the IFC Blog. The film makes for "a fascinating, provoking glimpse into a Kafkaesque system we were complete unaware of. Our blood boiled, and for once, a jury of our peers seemed appealing."

Update, 9/27: "[I]f one's cognitive abilities are in full working order, it becomes immediately apparent upon seeing I Just Didn't Do It that the film's fetishistic attention to the policies and procedures of the Japanese court system is precisely what gives it an added layer of perverse fascination if you happen to be watching it through foreign eyes," writes Scott Foundas in Cinema Scope.

Posted by dwhudson at September 24, 2007 9:51 AM