Sabu (film)

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Eiji, Sabu, and Nobuko grow up as friends at the Kobunecho orphanage during the Edo period. Years later, Eiji is framed for the theft of a 100-ryo piece of gold cloth from the Watabun Bank and is sent to the Ishikawa Island workhouse. Refusing to speak, Eiji is dubbed "Bushu" by the head guard Ryojiro Kojima. Sabu is fired by from his job as a paper hanger by Hokodo for his constant visits to see Eiji and is sent out into the country, where he develops beriberi. When Osue visits Eiji, Eiji explains that he believes that he was framed by Watabun and others who believed that Eiji intended to marry Watabun's daughter. Eiji insists that he had no such intention and that he only loves Osue but that she must forget about him because he has devoted his life to revenge.

The mistress of the geisha house where Nobuko works intends for her to marry 37-year-old Toku and take over as mistress of the house but Nobuko would rather run away with Sabu and Eiji. Osue visits her and Nobuko accuses Osue of stealing the gold cloth. Sabu steals food from his employer and is fired again, forcing him to return to the city.

Eiji breaks his leg saving another prisoner's life during the collapse of the frame of a building being constructed and is left with a permanent limp. A strong rainstorm creates a risk that the Okawa River will flood and leave the island underwater. Disgraced pimp Roku, who repeatedly raped Nobuko and was responsible for the suicide of her older sister, runs into a burning building to rescue a girl there. Eiji convinces the prisoners to work together to reinforce the workhouse and protect it against the flood. The violent new prisoner Giichi, known as the "Grass Snake", attacks Eiji but Eiji defeats him and his knife-wielding compatriot Ryu by beating them with his cherrywood cane. Instead of punishing Eiji, the head guard sends Giichi and Ryu to Denmacho and is paid by Sabu to send Eiji to Kitamachi court, where his case is reopened with a petition signed by 100 inmates and he is set free.

Sabu and Eiji return to Nobuko's house, where the mistress has ended up marrying Toku. Nobuko asks Eiji to marry her but he returns to Osue instead. Eiji finds a letter of apology written by Sabu and becomes enraged but Osue confesses that Sabu is protecting her and that she framed him for the theft because she wanted to marry him herself. Her father hears her confession and begs Eiji to punish him instead of her, but Eiji forgives her and takes her as his wife as she desired. Eiji visits Sabu, who puts on a display of apologizing for the theft. Eiji punches him, then embraces him.

• Tatsuya Fujiwara as Eiji
• Satoshi Tsumabuki as Sabu
• Tomoko Tabata as Onobu
• Kazue Fukiishi as Osue
• Kenji Sawada as Okayasu
• Naomasa Rokudaira as Matsuda
• Tatsuo Yamada as Ryojiro Kojima
• Yoshiki Arizono as Yohei
• Keisuke Horibe
• Kenichi Endō as Giichi
• Naomasa Musaka
• Mayuko Nishiyama as Osono
• Ren Osugi as Heizo
• Hiroshi Tamaki as Kinta
• Yoji Tanaka as Toku

• First assistant director: Masato Tanno

The film was originally broadcast as a 90-minute TV film made to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Nagoya Broadcasting Network, but was later given a 121-minute theatrical release.^[2]

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Reviewer Panos Kotzathanasis of asianmoviepulse.com wrote, "It is a rare occasion when Takashi Miike directs an almost completely tame film, while it borders on surprise when you have Tatsuya Fujiwara, one of the most hyperbolic actors in Japanese cinema, exercising the same kind of restraint. For that only, 'Sabu' is a unique entry in Miike's filmography. [...] The TV version of the film is 90-minutes, while the theatrical version, which is the one I watched, is 122 minutes. And while the extra time sheds some more light to the two characters, it actually highlights the fact that the film lags too much, with a number of scenes that seem to continue on for no apparent reason, which, in combination with the rather slow pace, makes 'Sabu' quite difficult to watch. [...] Hideo Yamamoto's cinematography is of the best aspects of the film, with him highlighting the beauties that surround the island prison and the ugliness that permeates its interior in the most impressive way. On the other hand, the presentation of the mainland setting focuses on realism, without many efforts at artistry. Evidently, the version to watch is the short one, but again, this is definitely not among Miike's best works, but rather one that stands just a bit above mediocrity, despite its interesting premises."^[3]

Reviewer Paghat the Ratgirl of weirdwildrealm.com wrote, "Tomoko Tabata, who was only nineteen years old when he played Eiji, is like a new Hashizo Okawa who was the prettiest male lead of the '50s & '60s. Whether from Miike encouraging great work or from the young actor's inate brilliance, he comes off brilliantly, not like the usual youth-star who tend at best to be only adequate. As with other examples of the new humane jidai-geki exemplified by Yoji Yamada's Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei, 2002), character is more important than swordplay, dramatic content trumps action. But for viewers who must have it, there certainly is action, notably when Seiji, though crippled, fights vicious yakuza prisoners. The choreography for the few scenes of violence is brutal & realistic. Since the characters are not trained samurai, these moments of physical conflict are crass, cruel, & homely. [...] Although Sabu was made as a telefilm, it is not at all lacking in big-screen qualities, as it's Miike directing after all, & when he puts his mind to doing a project well, he's apt to show genius."^[4]

Reviewer David Nusair of reelfilm.com gave the film a rating of one out of four stars, writing, "Clocking in at just over two hours, Sabu feels overlong almost from the get-go; the film's plot simply isn't dense enough to warrant such an absurdly padded running time. This is the sort of the story that could've easily been told in less than half an hour, though - admittedly - Miike does a nice job of establishing a very specific sense of mood. Miike, stripped of his ability to toss in R-rated shenanigans, proves that he's able to show a good amount of restraint; as a result, his directorial choices are undoubtedly the most effective aspect of the film. The real problem is that virtually all of Sabu feels superfluous; once you get beyond the intriguing set-up, the film doesn't go anywhere. Virtually every single sequence in the movie goes on much longer than necessary, often repeating themes that have already been dealt with extensively. While fans of the film will argue that Miike's deliberate pace (which is putting it kindly) allows him to fully develop the various characters, unless you're willing to embrace the film's awfully spare storyline, the whole thing just comes off as pure tedium."^[5]