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Waga jinsei saiaku no toki (1993)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 8/12

TerribleT
8/12: Waga jinsei saiaku no toki (The Most Terrible Time in My Life) is a frustrating Japanese noir picture.

It's also billed as a comedy. Uh, what comedy? The description on the back of the VHS cover mentions the film is a second coming of the French New Wave. The New Whaaa...? Although the cinematography is stunningly top-notch, I've become frustrated with the meandering plot. Where's the film going? It's been one random scene after another.

Then, the story begins to clear up as the focus sheds light on the true identity of the Taiwanese assassin and his ulterior motive. As a matter of fact, Waga jinsei saiaku no toki would've been a very good film if it took the Keyser Soze route by placing more emphasis on the assassin and his brother while fading the detective out of the picture. That being said, he's the most uninteresting character, and I'm surprised to learn this is the trilogy's first picture featuring him. Really, the whole thing sucks big time. Hence, I have zero plans of watching the next two.

One reviewer mentioned the name of Mike Hammer in reference to Maiku Hama, but I had been thinking more of Michael Shayne because he was AWFUL. On the other hand, the film runs ten minutes too long right after the brothers are killed. There's no point in knowing the detective's feelings which is, if you ask me, contrived stuff.

All in all, "the most terrible time in my life" perfectly describes how I feel while watching Waga jinsei saiaku no toki.