Charisma (film)
Encyclopedia
is a 1999
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...

 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 directed by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
is a Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre.-Biography:Born in Kobe on July 19, 1955, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is not related to director Akira Kurosawa...

. The film is about a dispute between a number of people about a unique but possibly toxic tree growing in an un-named forest.

The film is largely seen from the point-of-view of Goro Yabuike (Koji Yakusho), a police negotiator who has been relieved of his duties following his failure to prevent the death of an important hostage. His stands in the middle of the conflicting opinions about the future of the tree, and has to decide which course to commit himself to.

The film has been interpreted by some as an allegorical tale about the structure of Japanese society, and the tension between the importance of individuality on the one hand, and the importance of the group on the other. It is also possible to discern an ecological message.

Other cast members include Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
is a Japanese actor. He is also a practitioner of judo.-Film:*2010 Space Battleship Yamato*2008 Ip Man*2008 Team Batista no Eikō*2008 Handsome Suit*2006 Love My Life*2004 Warau Iemon*1999 Charisma*1998 Blues Harp-TV dramas:...

 (Kiriyama, who wants to protect the tree), Ren Osugi
Ren Osugi
, born , is a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival...

 (Nakasone), Yoriko Douguchi
Yoriko Douguchi
is a Japanese actress.-Selected filmography:* Charisma * Tomie * 20th Century Boys 2: the last hope * Yuriko, Dasvidaniya -External links:*, the fansite approved by Yoriko Doguchi...

 (Chizuru Jinbo), Jun Fubuki
Jun Fubuki
is a Japanese actress. She received a Japanese Academy Award Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in Muno no hito, and won at the Hochi Film Awards. This role also won Fubuki the "Best Actress" award at the Yokohama Film Festival...

 (Mitsuko Jinbo, an expert on plants), Akira Otaka
Akira Otaka
-External links:...

 (Tsuboi) and Yutaka Matsushige
Yutaka Matsushige
is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival for Dear Doctor.-Selected filmography:-External links:...

(Nekoshima).

Plot

Yabuike is a hostage negotiator. He attends an incident where an MP is being held at gunpoint. The captor's ransom note reads "Restore the Rules of the World". When Yabuike has a chance to shoot the hostage-taker he hesitates. The captor kills the MP, and is in turn killed by the police. Afterwards Yabuike explains that he thought he could help both men. He is suspended from duty.

He is dropped off in the middle of a mysterious forest. He comes across various people who are in a dispute about an apparently unique tree named 'Charisma' growing in a clearing in the forest. Jinbo believes the plant is toxic will eventually kill the whole forest. She wants to poison the whole forest so that it can be restored to its original condition. Kiriyama, a former sanatorium patient, wants to protect the tree, even if this leads to the death of the rest of the forest. Other military figures want to take the tree away for a collector.

Yabuike becomes the central figure in the dispute, somehow able to decide what will happen. After the tree has been stolen by the milias, recaptured by Kiriyama with Yabuike's help, and burned by Jinbo, a new, bigger tree appears, possibly similar to Charisma. Yabuike mulls over the two choices he faces: saving the individual tree, or saving the whole forest. He decides that the dichotomy is a false one. First that life and death are part of the same force, and second that every tree is a special tree and together they are a forest, but simultaneously no tree signifies anything more than any other. Ultimately some will live and some will die and some will be killed and some will be saved.

When the head of the militia takes Jinbo hostage, Yabuike has no hesitation in shooting, though not killing, him. The final scene shows Yabuike making his way back to the city to seek treatment for the injured militia. In the distance, the city can be seen in flames.

External links

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