Name: Tôsô
Genre: Drama
Released: 2025-03-15
Duration: 1 h 50 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Tomomitsu Adachi, Ryunosuke Azuma, Kanji Furutachi

Best known for his political documentaries of the late Sixties/early Seventies, Masao Adachi's "Escape" feels both set and of another era. Switching between the Seventies and 2024, it also feels a reflection of its director's career, with much time to develop and reflect after many years away.

Based on the life of Satoshi Kirishima, as a young man (Rairu Sugita) his involvement in political groups sees an act of protect escalated to terrorism - the rest of his group soon fleeing, arrested or dead. A meeker member, he goes into hiding, forming a new identity for himself, working day-labour jobs with few-to-no questions asked.

This is cut with his now aged self (Kanji Furutachi) lying on his death bed, finally wanting - after years spent living a different life - to reveal his true identity as a wanted man and return home.

What strikes is the spirit of the Sixties/Seventies in this film. Feeling straight out of the works of Oshima, the early segments of the revolutionary group mix black-and-white and unconventional techniques to capture the era. It is more avant garde than many of the later parts of the film, demanding engagement from its audience, speaking directly to us. This spirit returns towards the conclusion, as Kirishima reflects on the life he led after years in hiding.

A director of a different era perhaps wouldn't have made a film in this mould, breaking away from convention, having its two periods collide and confront each other. And this effectively communicates its messages - not a distraction or an attempt at being different; fitting for the subject.

Furutachi also fits the role perfectly, as a man seemingly never quite ready to let himself be free, hiding something beneath it all. Sugita as the younger man is fine in the role, and gets equal screentime, but this is Furutachi's piece, as a late-blooming actor improving with age.

This feels less a narrative film than Adachi exploring his thoughts, experiences and politics and displaying them to us; placing them on the life of a man in similar exile. The references to Palestine reflect his campaigns while in the Middle East, making this very much an Adachi film.

There are gaps, focusing largely on the beginning and the end, with years of struggle missed, making the young and old feel like two separate people rather than the continuation of a life. But its themes and techniques tell the story of Japan and its social concerns in the latter Twentieth Century: namely Sixties/Seventies revolutionaries, day labourers, lonesome living and coming to terms with the past.

Japan is a country where it can be easy to escape, with those at the top looking out for themselves, with many left behind. This was Kirishima's original aim in combating corporate greed, but the fight means you have to lose something of yourself.

Politic1983.home.blog.

Japanese cinema is celebrated for its refined minimalist dramas and avant-garde experimentation; it also introduced popular genres like jidaigeki (samurai epics), kaiju, and anime. Across both high art and mass entertainment, it often explores morality, impermanence, and the pressures of modern life.

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The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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