A Film a Week - Don't Lose Your Head / Migawari Mission

 previously published on Asian Movie Pulse

Imagine an intrigue thriller mated with a forged identity comedy set in early 1700s Edo. Hayato Kawai’s “Don’t Lose Your Head” (formerly known as “Migawari Mission”) fits that description perfectly by its story. The story itself might be enough to secure it some festival exposure either at genre festival circuit in East Asia or at international festivals specialised in Asian cinema, such as Toronto Japanese Film Festival, but positive reviews should not be taken for granted.

Takaaki Kira (Tsuyoshi Muro) did not have any luck in life. Born as a nobleman’s youngest son, he did not inherit anything, so he wanders the world begging for money and food, while his older brother Kozukenosuke (played by the same actor) enjoys all the privilege with little responsibility. When Kozukenosuke oversteps every boundary and insults a rival clan leader Lord Asano (Ukon Onoe), he attacks and mortally wounds him. Disgraced for drawing a sword at the Edo imperial court, Asano quickly commits suicide.

That puts both of the quarrelled clans in danger of being disbanded for breaking the strict rules and codes of conduct. If Kozukenosuke dies of a wound on his back he has gotten while running away from the fight, the Kira clan will be disbanded. The same destiny awaits the Asano clan if the remaining members do not avenge their deceased master by killing the Kira clan leaders and warriors. A smart vassal Kunai Saito (Kento Hayashi) suggests that Takaaki could impersonate his brother for a period of time. Takaaki’s new position becomes permanent once Kozukenosuke dies, but it is not all fun, games and debauchery that awaits him. Guided by the advises of Saito and lady-in-waiting Kikyo (Haruna Kawaguchi), he tries to become a good leader, but with the ongoing war, will he succeed?

“Don’t Lose Your Head!” is an adaptation of Akihiro Dobashi’s novel done by the author himself, which is rarely a good idea, having in mind the differences in the form of the novel and the movie script. The tonal changes we could barely register in the novel become striking in the film, which puts both the director Hayao Kawai and the cast under pressure to try to “iron” them flat.

The beginning of the film is especially problematic in that regard: the use of the narrator and the constant titling of a dozen of persons of interest from the court, the domains and the clans suggest seriousness, while the actors play their characters in a silly, vaudeville manner in order to stretch the poorly conceived overlong scenes based on cheap slapstick humour. Complete with the generic-sounding music by Shogo Kaida and equally phony sound design, it seems that the “serial” director of the repertoire films and TV series Kawai has lost the grip over the material, or that he never had any attention to hold control in whatever way. He even manages to defuse the potential of Eita Nagayama (of Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Monster” fame) playing one of the supporting roles.

The things get better in the second, more serious half. Not only the actors start to play their characters more like human beings, and less like cardboard cut-outs, but the characters also get the same treatment from the director. The music and the sound design quiet down, and let the cinematographer Shinya Kimura’s camerawork shine and expose actually quite decent production values that are faithful to the period details. However, it makes the film even more uneven regarding its rhythm and, in two hours of runtime, quite a demanding watch, especially given that the first half hour presents more than a challenge to the viewer’s patience.