European Premiere | In Competition
Japan, 2024, 121’, Japanese
Directed by: Ueda Shinichiro
Screenplay: Ueda Shinichiro, Iwashita Yuko
Cinematography (color): Yamamoto Shuhei
Editing: Ehashi Yuta, Ueda Shinichiro
Music: Suzuki Nobuhiro, Ito Shoma
Producer: Ito Chikara
Cast: Uchino Seiyo, Okada Masaki, Kawai Rina, Morikawa Aoi
Date of First Release in Territory: November 22nd, 2024
Since making One Cut of the Dead – a micro-budget zombie comedy that became a box office sensation in 2018 – Ueda Shinichiro has been scripting and directing films that resemble that smash hit’s twist-filled story and feel-good arc. But a repeat of its phenomenal success has remained elusive.
His latest, the caper comedy Angry Squad, has signature Ueda elements, such as misfits who come together as a team, but is also more mainstream than his previous efforts. Instead of writing yet another original script (though One Cut of the Dead was inspired by a play), Ueda based his ingeniously plotted story on the Korean drama Squad 38 and brought in TV veteran Iwashita Yuko as a co-scriptwriter.
He also has accomplished veteran actors in his cast, beginning with Okada Masaki (Gold Boy, Drive My Car) as a smooth-talking swindler, in contrast to the no-name thespians of One Cut of Dead, some of whom went on to thriving careers.
But the film still has Ueda’s distinctive blend of propulsive narrative energy, warm-hearted human drama and a bang-up climax that undercuts everything you thought you knew about the characters and their actions.
The story proper begins with a straight-arrow tax office investigator, Kumazawa (Uchino Seiyo), falling for a scam perpetrated by the above-mentioned swindler, Himuro. Of course he does not use that name when persuading Kumazawa to part with 830,000 yen for a used car that Himuro doesn’t actually own.
Luckily, Kumazawa has a cop friend who helps him ID the scammer. Meanwhile, he has been reluctantly cooperating with a gung-ho female colleague, Mochizuki (Kawai Rina), in trying to nail a crooked real estate developer, for 800 million yen in unpaid taxes.
But their boss, who is in cahoots with the developer, Tachibana (Yukiyoshi Ozawa), gets wind of their investigation and Kumazawa, who has a family to support and needs his job, is forced to make a humiliating apology to his target. Mochizuki, who is made of sterner stuff and refuses to apologize, loses a promised promotion.
To get off the hook for the car scam, which could send him back to prison, Himuro tells Kumazawa he will help him trap Tachibana with a real estate swindle. But first Himuro has to assemble a team, ranging from a wily counterfeiter to a pro faker of traffic accidents. Despite all his scruples as an upright public servant and law-abiding citizen, Kumazawa joins it.
The elaborate plan Himuro and his confederates put into motion has its share of improbabilities, starting with Kumazawa’s make-over into a somehow well-heeled pool shark. But his reasons seeking revenge go deeper than being made to smilingly grovel before Tachibana and give the lighter-than-air storyline needed ballast.
As played by Uchino, whose credits include the Miike Takashi period actioner 13 Assassins and the Kore-eda Hirokazu Netflix series Asura, Kumazawa has the perpetually pained look and instinctive cringe of the stereotypical Japanese organization man, who long ago lost any will of his own and has no life outside his work.
But once Kumazawa gets involved in Himuro’s scheme he becomes tougher, more complex and, yes, more admirable character. He may still look pained, but we begin to see flashes of righteous anger.
Even Himuro, in a wickedly charming performance by the versatile Okada, reveals a vulnerably human face behind the slick façade he shows the world. But don’t let him anywhere near your wallet.
Ueda Shinichiro
Ueda Shinichiro (b. 1984) began making films with a Handycam while still in junior high school. He made his commercial debut in 2015 with a segment of 4/Neko, a cat-themed omnibus film. His breakout, however, was the 2018 zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead. After screening at the 2018 Udine FEFF, the film became a smash-hit in Japan, earning more than 1,000 times its $30,000 budget. Ueda followed up with other self-scripted comedies, but his latest, Angry Squad, is based on Korean drama Squad 38 and was co-scripted by Ueda and Iwashita Yuko.
FILMOGRAPHY
2011 – Okome to Oppai (short)
2011 – Koisuru Shosetsuka (short)
2014 – Kanojo no Kokuhaku Ranking (short)
2014 – Last Wedding Dress (short)
2015 – Nekomanma (episode of omnibus 4/Neko)
2015 – Take 8 (short)
2018 – One Cut of the Dead
2022 – Popran
2025 – Angry Squad