Rating - 7.6:
Overall, a pretty good biopic on Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase, as the film is a polished execution depicting the tortured artist; but the scenes with ravens are pretty unnecessary and draw away from the storytelling.
Direction - Pretty Good:
The direction on a macroscale is artistic and polished; the direction on a microscale is pretty good for the most part as the scenes between characters are really engaging, the scenes with the Raven are poorly executed and tacky; the storytelling is clear and unique, besides the raven moments
Story - Good to Very Good:
The concept is good as it goes through the life of tortured photographer Masahisa Fukase; the plot structure is very good as it does a good job jumping between the past and the present to tell Fukase's story; character writing is good as they do a good job painting Masahisa Fukase as this troubled artist and how those around him are effected by it but the writing for the Raven is pretty bad
Screenplay - Good:
The dialogue is polished and profound, but the English dialogue for the Raven was not good and unnecessary; the humor is present and helps lighten the tone; the symbolism is very profound as the Raven symbolizes the darkness for the protagonist, but these aspects for the movie were not that well executed; the foreshadowing is profound as the plot structure for the movie really heightens the importance of foreshadowing to tell the story
Acting - Pretty Good:
Tadanobu Asano - Good (Really immerses himself in the role, as he shows how the protagonist is a tortured artist), Sôsuke Ikematsu - Decent to Pretty Good (Supports Asano as well as his apprentice/assistant, but really is not given that much material to work with on his own), Kumi Takiuchi - Pretty Good (Plays a supporting role well with Asano, as the two have good chemistry), Kanji Furutachi - Decent to Pretty Good (Shows the distance between the father and son in the movie well, as he helps create tension with his scenes with Asano), Rest of the cast - Decent (Supports the main cast well; the action from the raven was not that great as their scenes felt very forced due to the lack of chemistry)
Score - Pretty Good:
Helped give the movie an artsy feel
Cinematography - Pretty Good:
Polished and well-executed; it feels like it is from the perspective of a photographer/camera
Editing - Pretty Good:
"Polished and well-executed", seamlessly shows the photos from the photographer
Visual Effects - Pretty Bad:
Pretty tacky with how it incorporates the raven
Pacing - Pacing is fine, as the slower pace helps you sit with and get to know these characters
Climax - The climax is executed well
Tone - Tone feels like an artsy biopic
Final Notes - I saw the world premiere at the Austin Film Festival.
