Proof of the Man

Time to move into Big Budget Entertainment, with Junya Sato’s Proof of the Man, a film crossing two continents, as this really is as close you think that Japanese cinema in the 70s got to really big glossy, Hollywood style filmmaking. Let’s be up front; we know from The Bullet Train that Sato knows how to handle big budgets. 

An American, Johnny Hayward (Joe Yamanaka), arrives in Japan, only to be murdered in the hotel lift on the same floor that Kyoko Yasugi’s (Mariko Okada) fashion show is playing to acclaim. Detective Munesue (Yusaku Matsuda) is driven to find out the truth to this apparently senseless murder, while in New York Detective Shuftan (George Kennedy) is dragged into the case by his superior (Broderick Crawford) and slowly various strands of the case come together, each one leading back to the time of the US occupation of Japan. 

Proof of the Man was apparently a smash hit upon release in 1977 and you can see why. It’s not a great film per se, but it is a great piece of film as entertainment and is cannily cast: with young Matsuda flanked by an array of skilled performers with years under their belts like Okada as the fashion designer, Toshiro Mifune cameos as her politician husband; Munesue’s superior spearheading the criminal investigation is veteran Koji Tsurata; while on the US shores, George Kennedy has his usual dogged, slightly shifty gravitas; Broderick Crawford’s growly boss reminds us why he won an Oscar for All The King’s Men (for once genuinely well-earned), there’s even a lovely cameo from Robert Earl Jones (yes, father of Darth Vader’s voice). Here is enough to talent to hold the screen together even though, before halfway through, you’ll have worked out the whys and wherefores of the plot. But that doesn’t for a moment stop it being terrific entertainment, which it is. At two and a quarter hours long it never drags for a moment.

This is a film that could have felt bloated, but you just need to watch the opening sequence where Yasugi’s fashion show is performed to see the quality. It goes on for some time but it’s beautifully choreographed and also there are aspects to it that are big, big, big, big pointers towards the plot. On one-level it is peak 70s, but it also matters to the story in ways that are not apparent. Mainly though it’s fashion show turned into dance, into performance – I told you, this is a big glossy film and it is big glossy fun. 

That said it's important how the war and the US occupation of Japan forms an integral part of the story and also in the lives of our characters. We frequently witness Munesue’s memories of his father being murdered by American GIs as he attempts to protect a woman from being raped. Munesue is dealing with these ghosts, ghosts that he needs to find a way through, especially when he eventually finds himself in New York, beating its streets with Shuftan. The days of occupation live large in everyone we meet, even Shuftan’s boss mentions in passing he lost a brother at Pearl Harbour. Munesue sees in Shuftan the men who killed his father. Shuftan is perhaps the one with the least ghosts, but stands as the emotional core of the film. It is also important because the flashbacks shift and adjust as the vagaries of memory become restored. That said some of the images, though shocking, arguably pale in comparison to some of those seen a few years earlier in Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles without Honour and Humanity films.  

Considering I’m terrible at guessing where stories will go, as mentioned, I’d be surprised if anyone doesn't realise where most of the apparently tangled web of relationships will go, but it never detracts from the story and within it there are some unusual nuances. One witness to the body of Johnny in the hotel, Kawanishi (Koji Wada) is clearly uncomfortable about being asked about the identity of the woman he is with - the woman is Naomi (Bunjaku Han) who subsequently disappears. Kawanishi and Naomi’s husband (Hiroyuki Nagato) find a genuine kinship in their search for her and the justice she deserves and it's clear that these two men genuinely loved the same person. There's also something in their dynamics that matter, Kawanishi is successful andk relatively wealthy, so you might expect him to just be out with a woman as his bit on the side, but no - and the film does have some political aspects that it touches on. Mifune’s local politician clearly has clout, as does fashion designer Yasugi. It’s mentioned several times how they can make things happen as they wish it, and the sense that the struggle post-war has given rise to a new corruption and also a youth often rampant; it’s the classic tale of one generation building while the next fritters it away. 

Yet for all of this it’s a glossy thriller, and all the performances are exactly what you would expect from such a cast. The only aspect that perhaps falls a bit flat is Matsuda's poor English - it's understandable but lacks any emotion. It’s a small gripe, because there’s perhaps a sense of realness to it. If I tried to speak Japanese I suspect it’d be met with blank incomprehension too. It’s intriguing though that already Matsuda seems at home with a cast so experienced. Arguably Mifune is wasted in his cameo role but as the patriarch politician here is a role he can do in his sleep. And kudos to the short role given to Robert Earl Jones, in his small scene the expression on his face shows you where his son got his training from.  

So again, while not a great film per se, it’s a greatly entertaining film, and for a Sunday evening it perfectly fits the bill. Sato keeps the narrative going apace despite the running time and handles the big scenes with panache. Recommended!