Death Takes a Holiday

Short of the one time I impulsively bungee-jumped off a tower Down Under and had my life flashing by as I squeezed my eyes tight shut, I don't think I've ever faced death before. Sure I've seen death come by to visit more than a few of my patients, taking a handful away in his chilly grasp. No doubt a few don't go gently into the night as we prep the defibrillator but most leave with a tranquil smile, the seemingly endless pain and suffering leeched away forever.

Death isn't always something to be afraid of.

Not least when Death comes in the guise of Takeshi Kaneshiro. Our seriously hunky thespian of Sino-Japanese extraction plays Chiba, a grim reaper - otherwise called a Shinigami in Japanese - in the movie Accuracy of Death 死神の精度. Obviously Death ironically comes to appreciate the little joys of life as he ponders over his sonorous judgements starting with a tragic tween right in the prologue. Forget about the similarities with Meet Joe Black! Although the film moves at a snail's pace as it plods through three different lives, it still seems far more sweetly poignant than the glitzy Hollywood vehicle for Brad Pitt.


In turn, our guileless Chiba meets a drab, a dragon and a dame - watch to see how all three vignettes connect! - and makes a choice whether to suspend or proceed with their death sentence after seven days of observation! All the while looking imperturbably handsome and dashing - even while swaying emphatically to the J-pop at a record store.

Surprisingly I found the middle story heart-warming as it tells the tale of a tough yakuza dragon whose time has finally arrived. And yet Death is held back by the piteous pleas of the brash orphaned kid he adopts.


Wonder what song he listens to?
Die Another Day?
I scoffed in disbelief during the first story though when the drab bit of a girl he meets in the beginning actually refuses to be picked up by him! Depressing dab of a girl who has had death come into her life far too often only to have him come again one last time. Trying to get close to her, he deliberately sprays her clothes wet with rainwater and then clumsily proceeds to ask her out only to be rebuffed.

She rebuffs Takeshi Kaneshiro. Like seriously.

Takeshi : I'm so sorry. So sorry I splashed your coat.
Paul : It's alright. You can splash me anytime.
Takeshi : It's my fault. I'll pay for the dry-cleaning right now.
Paul : Only if you let me handwash your wet pants right now.

Come on! It's Takeshi Kaneshiro. I could dip that delicious fella in wasabi and lick him.

A sweet original movie to watch on a lazy afternoon away from work. Just surprised to find myself the only local amongst an entire cinema full of Japanese students chattering away excitedly! Felt like I'd been plopped down in the Ginza. Certainly completed my Nippon experience when I met Fabulous Fiona later for a sushi lunch.