NYAFF XXIV Review: In 9 SOULS, A Moving Portrait Of Spirited Resolve
I’d only known of Toshiyaki Toyoda by name until now, having seen none of his work. Oof! Alas, this year’s edition of the New York Asian Film Festival at least guarantees that I’ll finally get to familiarize myself, and with none other than 9 Souls to start.
A young man lands in jail for allegedly murdering his father, bunking him with nine other inmates for a time until one of them goes mad and gets whisked away. The remaining nine inmates spot a hole in their cell, and they somehow manage to free themselves. That’s how this remarkable movie starts with a cast led by Ryuhei Matsuda who we first meet in the film.
The film’s enseble cast is a colorful lot (Yoshio Harada, Yamada Mame, Junior Chihara, Onimaru, Itsuji Itao, Takuji Suzuki, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Ohmiya Ichi), each convicted of a crime, and bearing pasts full of burdens they’re each looking to make themselves whole on. Their first stop, however, is a time capsule at an old high school where they end up discovering far less than the load of loot they expected.
The first hour is a hell of a journey though. Traveling through the countryside in a red van they’ve taken from a friend, they remain on the move as much as possible, before landing in the city. At this point, however, the ninesome has already started dwindling, whether the reason being due to last ditch efforts to reconnect with loved ones, or find some semblance of peace or progress that brings them closer to fulfilling a dream they once thought to have died.
The film eventually culminates with Michiru (Matsuda) reuniting with his long lost brother, Noboru (Eita Nagayama), who has started a skeezy loan business, overcompensating in a façade of black culture and self-confident douchebaggery. Meanwhile, Torakichi (Harada), the runaways’ senior-most shotcaller, is forced to reckon with his hard-as-nails approach to leadership whilst coming to terms with his own broken family, including his own daughter on her wedding day.
9 Souls culminates with a tragic, bittersweet recapitulation by the film’s final shot, which itself is as fantastical as the film’s opening sequence overlooking a city full of mysteriously disappearing buildings, emptying until a single tower is all that’s left. That part of Toyoda’s vision, whatever it entails, is something that I’m still reckoning with, while taking with me a stoic two-hour adventure that speaks ardently to some harsh societal truths on redemption.
There isn’t much I can say about 9 Souls without spoiling it for anyone else who might be as new to it as I am. As a coming of age youth drama woven into a crime story, the film is not without its share of violent means to its end with some of our characters meeting their gruesome demise. I should also add that at least one character with the help of others (nearly) tries to have his way with a sheep. Crazy shit.
It’s easy to forget how wild this film gets on occasion, for sure. At any rate, you’re challenged to not get too attached to anyone getting either pinched or snuffed within the second half of 9 Souls, while invited to witness one of Toyoda’s most memorable and timeless pieces of work, be it at a festival, or wherever available.
9 Souls enjoyed its Special Screening at the 24th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival.
