It's challenging to base a film on a board game that few understand and likely fewer play. This movie does a fairly decent job. Shogi is, perhaps, more esoteric than Western chess; each piece looks the same except for kanji labels. The story line traces the life of a gamer from hero (as a grade school player) to zero (as a burnt-out gamer in his mid twenties) to hero (as a middle age champion player) who can tear up when losing or winning. How the game can play the player rather than vice versa by becoming a dangerous obsession with often fatal consequences for losers is often depicted with the life of a player shown to be no life at all. A lot of the action takes place away from the board; but, alas, a lot of the action also takes place on the board. So unless you are a shogi enthusiast, you miss out on about half of what is apparently happening. Many opportunities to describe and explain the game (and it's rules) to viewers (and perhaps increase it's popularity?) are blissfully passed by. (For example, players use clocks or can be timed, but to what purpose?) Few fans appear to be female in this film; all but one player are shown to be males. Acting is fine, but there is much smoking. Script/direction nicely captures family (and extended family) slices of life. It is sometimes difficult to keep characters straight, since there are several casts that cover four decades. Cinematography is good with a number of excellent traveling shots. Lighting can be on the dark side. Music volume is often rock-concert ear splitting. Translations are mostly limited to vocalizations; signs and especially shogi kanji are ignored. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN.
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