Doing Time

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Audience Member A series of small episodes about life in a Japanese prison. No violence or guard brutality, instead super-exacting rules, repetitive tasks and obsession about the food. Subtly funny, and quite unlike any other prison drama I've ever seen. <img src="http://www.asiatorrents.com/imagehost/images/548924Doing%20Time.jpg"> Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting and different perspective to look at life during worst of times....... Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This is not your typical Hollywood movie on inmates: There is no inmate fighting, no escape planning or conspiracy. It is more like reading Kazuichi Hanawa's diary as he reflects upon the three years he serves for weapon possession. Life in a Japanese prison is highly organized! Every activity (including the number of steps they are allowed to take from their cell to the hallway) and every minute of the day are meticulously planned. Regulations of what are allowed (one coke and one chocolate treats during movie night) and what are not allowed (completing someone else's puzzle) are strictly reinforced. There are also procedures for what seems to me to be the most insignificant act (asking for permission to pick up an eraser that falls out of the assigned path). It is hilarious, yet incredibly sad as the movie goes on, to see Hanawa and other inmates doing everything perfectly for a praise by the guards, and reminiscing on the many different kinds of treats they had at last New Year's celebration. This movie is a comedy with a message--Even though life is much easier if you stay on the assigned path, having the freedom to explore and to choose what you really want to do is definitely priceless. I can't wait to see the last 10 minutes of the movie! (The fire alarm went off near the end of the movie!! argh!) [i]Jade[/i] at [url="http://www.afterfiveinToronto.blogspot.com"]www.afterfiveinToronto.blogspot.com[/url] Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/79/779079.jpg[/img][font=Comic Sans MS][size=+1][size=2]This movie is based on a manga by Kazuichi Hanawa, this is about his real life experiences when his hobby of collecting Swords & replica guns got him sent to prison for 3 years. A rare glimpse into a whole different world that is Japanese prison![/size] [/size][/font] [font=Arial][size=3][b]I was surprised by this film. I didn't know anything about it when I first sat down to watch it, other than it was a Japanese film that apparantly had to do with prisoners. It turns out it's nothing like you'd expect from a typical prison movie, at least not the western ones. There's not the usual rape, beatings, swearing and such. Japanese prison life is highly structured and run more like a military camp in the sense that everything is based on minute detail, nearly every aspect of a prisoners life is controlled. Tidyness, rules & repetetion are what run their lives. The things most of us take for granted, like a good meal, are all important to the prisoners. They get very excited and discuss incessantly about the upcoming New Year's dinner. A prisoner's rare treat to see a movie and given a sodapop & cookies will evoke great envy from his cellmates. When he arrives back he takes great pleasure in bragging about it.[/b][/size][/font] [b][font=Arial][size=3]The story is an interesting study on how monotonous life can make the smallest details all encompassing. Some of the scenes are humorous, like how an argument will break out between cell mates about whose pubic hair was found during their daily cell room cleanup, and how the prisoners love to gossip about the penis size of one of them & Hanawa's disappointment when he forgets to check it out during one of the prisoners bath breaks.[/size][/font][/b] [b][font=Arial][size=3]You would think this would make for a boring movie, and perhaps my description doesn't do the film justice, but surprisingly I found the film interesting. Hanawa's inner dialogue that we hear during the film is largely what makes the story insightful & meaningful. The performances are all excellent and the film is well directed by Yoichi Sai. [/size][/font][/b] [size=3][font=Arial][b]It's a very realistic protrayal since it's based on the real life experience of the manga artist [/b][size=4]Kazuichi Hanawa, who was sentenced to 3 yrs in prison in 1994 for possession of a firearm. His popular manga series Keimusho No Naka (Doing Time) is what this film is based on. [/size][/font][/size] [img]http://benippon.com/shop/i/DVD-TDBD-2035.jpg[/img] Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Doing Time

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