Review: Part of the Duel Project, ARAGAMI is a film that was to be made with great limitations including; time constraints, one single set location and only two main actors. This paired with Director Yukihiki Tsutsumi’s 2LDK completes the famed project. While each film is different in their own right, they both share the same theme; intense claustrophobic action.

ARAGAMI is an entertaining experiment from Ryuhei Kitamura (VERSUS, ALIVE) that succeeds in maintaining both action and humor. Fans of the excessive filmmaker should be quite familiar with his particular style and surely will have an idea of what’s in store for them. It seems that most of his films have been hit or miss with fans since VERSUS, due to the fact that they were approached in a whole new way. Some of you may be pleased to know that ARAGAMI brings back the same flare and creates a somewhat nostalgic experience that made it much easier to approach.

One of the things that makes ARAGAMI so great is its simplicity. You don’t need to set aside too much time or invest a whole lot, which can be beneficial at times. Mindless entertainment for the sake of mindless entertainment can certainly be a real treat, especially in a Japanese film.

In retrospect it is amazing to think that Kitamura completed a quality film with only five different actors. Masaya Kato (AGITATOR, BROTHER) adds his well-known cool factor to the character Aragami, and becomes a believable God of Battle (despite the fact that his wig was atrociously annoying). Our protagonist, the powerful samurai played by Takao Osawa (GEGE) overacted in the majority of his dialogue scenes, but was a pleasure to watch in the fight scenes. Sadly, the elegant Kanae Uotani’s (THE MESSENGER) character was very secretive and had almost no dialogue. We also get special cameos from VERSUS stars, Hideo Sakaki and Tak Sakaguchi. Nice little nod there.

As expected, Kitamura used his usual crew for the production of the film, which is a good thing. That means that Takumi Furuya helmed the photography with his usual pacing and signature shots. Of course we also have some fantastic music from Nobuhiko Morino, which gives a large contribution to the energetic atmosphere. The costumes used were extremely cool and felt almost magical, and as for the set…damn. Absolutely amazing and the perfect backdrop for balls-out fight scenes.

As a note, there is a worrisome issue about the fights that could have potentially taken a lot away from the overall effectiveness of the film. As in VERSUS, Kitamura attempts to make his fight scenes a little too flashy by over-stylizing them (shaky camera anyone?). Luckily it wasn’t too bad. Instead of moving the camera around like a madman, lighting played the most vital role in creating the right atmosphere. The two main stars are not known for their martial arts skills, so naturally Kitamura would be forced to add some forced style in some way, I’m just glad that it wasn’t overdone or sloppy.

Another pertinent issue to note about the fighting in ARAGMI is that it is not an eighty-minute fight-fest. Maybe this is a disappointment to some of you, but let me explain why it shouldn’t be. There is quite a lot of dialogue between Kato and Osawa, which I felt added a certain level of maturity that was necessary to the film. It confirmed the reasons for the battle between the two, and also developed an interesting and respectful relationship that took the film above and beyond my own expectations. Now don’t let this scare you into thinking you’re in for a bore-fest, because the fight scenes are scattered throughout the entire film. Talk, fight, talk, fight, talk, fight. Nice even pacing.

While not the most inventive and original film ever made, ARAGMI is most definitely worthy of repeat viewings. This one is sure to please you whether you are a Kitamura fan or not.