LESSON OF EVIL

(A.k.a. LESSON OF THE EVIL; AKU NO KYOTEN)

Hasumi (Hideaki Ito) is a popular teacher at a Japanese secondary school. He's energetic in his English lessons and his boyish good looks mean the girl students often swoon after him.

He's even a hit in staff meetings, as evidenced early in the film when he delivers an impassioned speech on how to eradicate the issue of cheating during school exams. What he suggests is not strictly legal but does prove to be effective when enforced.

But behind his winning smile and enthusiastic 'coolness' with the kids, there's an oddness to Hasumi. He lives alone in the hills, where he likes to work out in the nude and sets traps to electrocute crows outside his cabin home.

A fellow professor, the timid Tsurii, has suspicions about his relatively new colleague from the start. He soon uncovers details of several student "suicides" which occurred at the last school Hasumi taught at. When a fresh tragedy occurs, resulting in the death of a father concerned about whether his daughter Miya (Erina Mizuno) may be getting bullied by classmates online, Tsurii passes on his suspicions to local cops, and to wayward student Keisuke (Shota Somtani).

In the meantime, Hasumi is approached by pretty student Rina (Takemi Fujii). First she appeals to him, claiming to have been molested by another teacher. Later, she corners him on the school's roof and moves in for a kiss. Hasumi obliges and a relationship develops. But the teacher has reasons for his actions...

As Rina attempts to defend Hasumi from the gossip her school pals Keisuke and Tade (Kenta Darvish) seem to enjoy discussing so much, even she starts to have her doubts when problem students start to go missing under mysterious circumstances.

I don't want to give much more away. But this is a Takashi Miike film (adapted by the director from Yusuke Kishi's novel), so I think it's safe to say you can expect a fair amount of twisted violence as events escalate.

Sure enough, after a sedate first hour which focuses on building characters and situations, LESSON OF EVIL explodes into an extended set-piece finale of multiple gunshots and surreal flashes of VIDEODROME-style hallucinations met to the paradoxical strains of "Mack the Knife".

Miike has fun commenting on modern youth issues such as sexual harassment, cyber bullying and so forth. There's not a moral character in the entire film; the children are dishonest and manipulative, the teachers are aggressive and abusive in equal measures. Quite what the director's hinting at by the time American stock traders appear in Hasumi's mind's eye, encouraging him to maximise his kill count, is anyone's guess. How the violent West has corrupted the East, perhaps? Surely not.

Technically, the film looks great with some stunning cinematography and expertly executed action scenes towards the end. But, as with all Miike films, there is a frustrating overall effect where flashes of brilliance and never sustained: LESSON OF EVIL exhibits enough flair to suggest it should've been marvellous, but a disjointed narrative (particularly in the first half) and lack of engagement with the young actors create a distance that never fully dissipates once things get moving.

Still, Ito is great in the lead role - quirky, likeable, sinister - and Miike still has an eye for the excessive (torture by soldering iron; the mass shooting of kids in school uniforms). The film looks fab and has a groovy soundtrack, but lacks the bite of a less mainstream Miike - it's certainly no AUDITION or VISITOR Q.

Even so, I am intrigued by the closing gambit of "To be continued"...

Third Window Films' region 2 DVD presents LESSONS OF EVIL uncut and in its original 2.35:1 ratio. The picture is 16x9 enhanced and boasts a very healthy, true appearance here. Colours and blacks are strong, detail is pleasing; texture is natural and film-like.

5.1 audio offers a good solid playback too. It's in Japanese for the most part, but there is a zany foray into English-spoken madness around the 67-minute mark. Optional subtitles are provided for the Japanese dialogue only.

The disc opens to an animated main menu page. From there, an animated scene selection menu allows access to the film via 20 chapters.

A mammoth 2-hour Making Of documentary kicks off the DVD's bonus features in fine style. This fly-on-the-wall feature follows the filmmakers on the shoot of LESSON OF EVIL, proffering a wonderfully up-close and candid account of how a master like Miike works. It's a little plodding at times thanks to a reliance on onscreen text over dialogue (and a tendency for the English subtitles to translate the Japanese text literally, rendering most of it 'broken' in its delivery) but it's still fascinating and worthy.

The film's original 2-minute UK trailer simplifies the character intricacies, obviously, but does a fair job of approximating what audiences should expect.

Finally there's weblink access if you bung this disc into your PC.

LESSON OF EVIL is good in general, and great in bits. Which is something you could say about most Miike films. One lazy reviewer suggested it was a cross between BATTLE ROYALE and CONFESSIONS. I'd suggest a more accurate comparison as being BLUE SPRING meets ELEPHANT, with hints of VIDEODROME thrown in en route.

Also available on blu-ray.

Review by Stuart Willis