'Techno Brothers': Offkilter Road Trip Comedy Pays Homage To Techno Pioneers
3 minute read
In his latest comedy, Techno Brothers, Watanabe leaves Otawara for Tokyo, where a trio of brothers and sisters hope to find success in the music industry. Another novelty for the director is that the film is shot in color.
Watanabe's style, which infuses simple technical effects with the director's understated sense of humor, is still comically alive and well, even if the input from his brother Yuji, who was the composer for all his films, is great: the film has written various techno. songs that reference the pioneer of the genre Kraftwerk. Everything is played from start to finish with few visual differences, which may have been designed to put viewers in a technical trance, but this non-fan found it overkill.
Watanabe, who also wrote the original screenplay, clearly borrowed from John Landis's 1980 comedy classic The Blues Brothers, right down to the Brothers' dark techno colors and perpetually blank expressions, despite its closer approach to spectacular crashes. with the car from the previous film: a minibus breaking down. Another inspiration is "Leningrad Cowboys Go America," Aki Kaurismaki's 1989 comedy about a Siberian rock band touring the United States, the land of their musical dreams, with a dead organ.
"Techno Brothers" opens in a field in Tochigi Prefecture with the young but domineering "Boss Riko" (Watanabe regular Riko Hisatsugu) talking to the brothers' manager Himuro (Asuna Yanagi) through a thug assistant ( Watanabe). He says his artistic sounds are not keeping up with the times. However, he told them to head to Tokyo anyway. When Himuro asks for an advance, Chief Rikuo replies, "Earn your money!" say.
From his wavy hair and oversized sunglasses to his everyday commanding manner, Himuro embodies the look and attitude of famed Vogue editor and Devil Wears Prada muse, Anna Wintour. Earn it.
With a timid elderly driver driving his rented minibus, the Techno brothers travel to various concerts and competitions, which are found by Himuro. Performed by a trio (the brothers Watanabe and Takanori Kurosaki) in equal parts black and red suits (much like Kraftwerk) and with robotic precision, their electronic sounds are catchy but old-fashioned. Think Yellow Magic Orchestra minus the charisma.
And the reactions of the non-actor audience, from children to the elderly, generally range from deadpan to confused, and are a good source of laughs. Like a gag from the movie where Himuro punishes his silent pupils for their lack of success by letting them only drink water in restaurants. Meanwhile, order one delicious dish after another as you watch with bated breath.
Watanabe's chameleon-like transformations as a diverse cast of characters are also amusing, from an embarrassed local fan giving Himuro unsolicited advice to a rowdy concert hall manager who has absolutely no knowledge of how the band or techno works.
Despite the Techno Brothers being mute recipients of all the scorn the music world has to offer, Himuro maintains an unwavering belief in his talent that becomes strangely contagious and ultimately inspiring. Towards the end, while they were playing with the sunset, I went over to cheer them on.
| Distribution | |
|---|---|
| Execution time | 97 minutes |
| language | Japanese |
| Opens | Tell me now |
