Adapted from a novel by ryu murakami (audition, coin locker babies, happiness of the katakuris), of course, you would expect a bizarre and mean-spirited film about the more twisted and unsavory characters in japan.

and this you get.

unfortunately, this film is not very interesting unlike murakami's other novels and films. we're privvy to a group of overly-indulgent middle aged Japanese women who spend their time singing karaoke together and trying to pick up younger men. their name: the midoris.

we then meet their nemesis: a group of horny 20something boys (reminiscent of the cast of porky's) who also adore karaoke and the musical 'cabaret' and engage in a major war with the old ladies once one of the boys murders one of them.

from here ensues a boring testament to senseless murders via: knives, guns, grenade launchers and an atomic bomb (no, this is not a takashi miike film about yakuza).

generally unfunny and grimly disastrous. if you have 2 hours to yawn through, watch this one. otherwise, see one of murakami's other works.

It's hard to say, but perhaps this film was meant as a comedy...but I really am not sure. In fact, I am not sure what its exact purpose was....I just know that despite looking nice, it's an awful film--and I don't say this very often. In fact, among my nearly 10000 reviews on IMDb, I am sure it's the first time I've gone this far. It is awful because the ending is just horrible...and very insensitive--but I'll say more about that later.

The film consists of switching between two groups. One consists of men in their 20s who get together to do karaoke--and do it in a very strange and grand manner. The other is a group of ladies in their 30s who get together as well--and they are unified by all being named Midori and all being in their 30s and divorced. These disparate groups come into contact when one of the men, for absolutely no discernible reason, brutally murders one of the women. The ladies track down the killer and in turn kill him. The men then obtain a gun and kill the female killer--and it HORRIBLY escalates from their to almost comical proportions...ALMOST. By the end of the film, they are using rockets and even a so-called 'gas bomb' to kill thousands--perhaps many many thousands of innocent people.

If this was meant to be comedy, I'd hate to imagine what else they think is funny....all I know is that the killings in the film were brutal, unfunny and cruel. I got the movie because I thought it was going to be a quirky comedy. There were some oddly comic touches (such as the weird psychic lady) but even the Marquis de Sade would fail to laugh at the rest of the movie. It's pretty sad when a movie ends and I STILL have no idea what its purpose or message was. All I know is that the immolation scene was reminiscent of Hiroshima or 9/11 and just seemed sick. What were they thinking?! With a few changes, this could have been a funny black comedy--as it is, I only give it a 2 because at least the acting was pretty good in this nasty and irresponsible film.