Our top choices for TIFF 2010:
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By: tiffreviews
Cinematical - …We had to ditch the party a bit early to allow time to grab a bite of dinner, then headed over to the Ryerson; when Detroit Metal City director Toshio Lee and the film’s star, popular Japanese actor Ken’ichi Matsuyama, showed up, a pack of Japanese girls and women who’d been allowed to gather to get an up close view went absolutely wild, screaming so loudly that a guy passing by in front of the red carpet wondered aloud, “Who is it? Brad Pitt?”
Lee briefly introduced the film — currently the #2 film in Japan and being seen tonight for the first time outside Japan — which was adapted from an enormously popular manga , by telling the crowd that if they had, in fact, thought they were coming to see a film about Detroit, they were in for a big surprise, and he’d gladly refund their money. Judging by the crowd’s reaction to the film, I don’t think Lee has anything to worry about.
In brief, the film is a bright, loud tale that immerses you into the story as if you’ve stepped into the pages of a manga. It tells the tale of a kind, gentle young man named Negishi Soichi, who just wants to make people happy by singing Swedish pop with his acoustic guitar. Instead, life takes a different turn for Negishi, who finds himself the reluctant lead singer of a death metal band called Detroit Metal City (DMC for short), and it’s Neghishi’s conflict with the dual sides of who he’s become, and a love interest who hates DMC but has no idea that he’s in the band, that drives the story. It’s a fun, loud, riot of a film, and a perfect addition to this year’s Midnight Madness… [Full Story]
