Watch out, because here comes Noriko's Dinner Table, the sequel to Sion Sono's infamous Suicide Club. Prepare to be... bored and confused.
After Suicide Club, Sono wrote a novel that acted as a companion piece to his film. Three years ago, he adapted his novel into a follow-up movie. This is quite evident in his reliance on voiceover, his meandering semi-chapter structure and his use of language. Seventeen year-old Noriko is part of a suburban, middle class Japanese family. When her humdrum existence becomes too much, she runs off to meet her idol, a mysterious girl who gives wisdom and advice to all the other young ladies who frequent an internet chat room. Noriko's disappearance sets off a series of events, resulting in her sister running away, her father starting an obessive quest to reclaim his children, and their family being destroyed.
Noriko's Dinner Table is much different than Suicide Club. Whereas Suicide Club was about the outsiders viewing the actions of these crazy Japanese kids and trying to solve the mystery, Noriko's Dinner Table is much more personal, attempting to put you into the minds of the loony highschoolers in question. Concering the first film, zero answers are given in this sequel (in fact, more question arise), but you do see the motivation of the children from a new light.
Above all, this movie is WAY TOO LONG!! I mean, I can get into the giant epics as much as the next person, but I need something to keep my interest. At 159 minutes, this movie could have lost an hour easily. Sono takes too long getting to the good stuff, and at the close of the movie we've got the whole "Return of the King" thing going, where every moment is set-up to be the ending.... but then isn't. I understand the director wishing to keep as much of his book as possible, but when you're too close to the project, sometimes it's hard to be objective.
The music was irksome. Sometimes it was great, but other times it had an acoustic-guitar-teenage-girl-comes-of-age feel to it. Also, the voiceover got on my nerves. I understand the literary, get-in-the-character's-head approach, but during the majority of the movie I thought it was stupid.
Another issue was the picture quality. Noriko's Dinner Table was shot on the magnificent DVX100, which gives a stunning image for a consumer grade camera, as long as you do it right and give enough attention to lighting and post-production. Sometimes they pulled it off, other times they didn't. Sunlight filled windows are totally bright, turning those who stand in the foreground into silhouettes. Blurred camera movements betray the fact that the movie was shot on video. Suicide Club was shot on 35mm, and in the sequel you can totally tell the difference.
But I'm not looking to be a huge negative Nancy. "Norika's Dinner Table" contains some terrific moments, mostly involving the genius "rent-a-family" and the tragic end of a girl named "Broken Dam." Sion Sono very much knows how to put a movie together, and I can certainly say I've never seen anything like this before. And kudos to him for not doing a straight on, following the same plot as the first movie sequel. He takes chances with "Norika's Dinner Table," and I respect him for that. If you're a fan, you should definitely check it out. But if you turn it on expecting something on the level of Strange Circus or Suicide Club, you will be disappointed. How could you hope to compete with Suicide Club? Evil J-Pop kids? Animal torturing Ziggy Stardust? Chains of human flesh? Not a chance.
Noriko's Dinner Table was shot on a Panasonic DVX100, the camera responsible for 9 Songs, Jackass 2 and Jay-Z's Fade to Black concert video. Much of the time the image looks great, but other times the color is a little faded, camera movements are very "videoy," and the image has a somewhat two dimensional feel. For a consumer grade camera, the DVX100 can look utterly amazing with enough finesse. Noriko's Dinner Table doesn't always succeed in achieving that.
Sound is fine. The design is nothing spectacular, but it's consistent and doesn't yank you out of the story.
Sion Sono Introduction and Interview, trailers for other Tidepoint features, Noriko's Dinner Table trailer and making-of documentary. The Tidepoint trailers look freaky, Sono's Q+A is interesting, if not a little dry, and the making-of documentary shows how much fun making a movie is, even if it's about familial deconstruction and child suicide.
Noriko's Dinner Table, the four or five year later sequel to the vastly superior Suicide Club, is a bloated movie that gives no answers to previous mysteries, but does manage to give more insight into the philosophies and idealogies presented in the first film. Not worth a purchase, but worth viewing if you're as big a fan of the first one as I am.
