Title: Beck
English Title: Beck
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2010
Cast:
- 佐藤健 Sato Takeru
- 水嶋ヒロ Mizushima Hiro
- 向井理 Mukai Osamu
- 中村蒼 Nakamura Aoi
- 桐谷健太 Kiritani Kenta
- 忽那汐里 Kutsuna Shiori
SYNOPSIS
Minami Ryusuke is a talented guitarist who has his own band. His half-sister Minami Maho, who studies in New York, comes to Japan for a visit and stays with him.
Tanaka Yukio, called Koyuki by everyone, is a high school student who develops an interest in guitar. He asks Ryusuke to teach him and although Ryusuke is not talented, he is very determined and hardworking. Koyuki and Maho become involved in a romantic relationship.
Koyuki and his friend become a part of Ryusuke's band called Beck. The band starts to play live shows and grows an enthusiastic following. The release of their debut CD helps to further spread the band's popularity. Beck then receives an offer to play at a rock festival, but with the unusual stipulation that the band may have to disband after performing in the festival.
REVIEW
I like how Beck realistically portrays how difficult it is for people to realize their dreams and turn these dreams into reality. Other films tend to gloss over the difficult parts, sort of like in montage setting, which invariably tends to put the focus on the end result. In contrast, Beck is about the process; focusing on the painfully long and convoluted way of getting to the goal. Come to think of it, the protagonists don't even get to achieve their goal so I suppose this movie clearly falls in the slice-of-life category.
I'm not very familiar with the manga so I don't really know whether the movie adaptation is faithful to the original or not in terms of characterization. However, I'm not happy with the production's decision to mute the singing scenes of Tanaka Yukio or Koyuki, a supposedly extremely talented singer who touches people's soul with his singing prowess.
If Sato Takeru does not meet the demands of the character, why was he slated to play the character in the first place? If Sato Takeru, or any other actor, cannot possibly do the Koyuki character justice, then I would have been perfectly content with hearing something because it is much easier to hear something and convince yourself it is extraordinary rather than have nothing and pretend there is something.
I don't really like Minami Ryusuke as a character bu he does relay some of the most compelling insights in the movie. When his band mates are against his proposal to let inexperienced people join Beck, he tells them, "Having great musicians does not always guarantee the band's success. Chemistry is also important."
Natural intelligence and inherent talent do not always guarantee success. Other factors are equally, if not more, important. Ordinary people with normal abilities do succeed through strong will and hard work.
In cases where it is imperative to work closely with other people, a good relationship between all people involved is very important. A band composed of extremely talented musicians will get nowhere if these people don't work well together.
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Beck
