Man, Woman and the Wall (DVD)

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One saving grace for the production in this regard is the actors. The three leads in the featurette don´t hint at any trepidation concerning the material. In actuality, they are very happy with the finished product, signing on after being enamored by the script. Could it just be my American-ism rearing its ugly head, preventing me from fully embracing the film?

Audiences may have trouble with the distinct lack of anything kinetic happening for the majority of the film. We watch Ryo listen to Satsuki. We watch as they go about their daily lives. We watch as Yuta comes into the story. In a sense, we are just as guilty of being voyeuristic as Ryo is. Already clocking in at a slim 84 minutes, I can´t help but wonder if "Man, Woman and the Wall" wouldn´t have worked better as a short film, somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour. Certain segments seem to creep by in slow motion. Part of the problem turns out to be the rather bland characters.

We´re never given any reason to like or identify with them. What is it, aside from the thought of being with her, that Ryo finds appealing? And what about Satsuki? Yes, she is good looking, but is that all there is to her? A pretty face? The complaint, succinctly, is a lack of depth and development to the characters. On one level, it is easy to sympathize with Satsuki, her privacy crudely invaded. But in another, she is merely a pawn in the film to be moved around by the story itself, and not a three dimensional person.

VIDEO:
The 1.77:1 non-anamorphic transfer has certainly seen better days. For one, it´s not 16:9, a standard all films should be held except in the most extreme of circumstances. And two, the actual look of the film is akin to a VHS tape. Bright scenes don´t betray their problems quite as badly as the night ones do. Chief among them are grain, a lack of good black levels and murkiness in those shots. This film was released just last year. It wasn´t shot on a miniscule budget like others on disc recently-"Hell´s Ground," anyone?-so what´s the excuse?

AUDIO:
TLA Releasing gets a major thumbs up for continuing to present foreign films in only their native language. The only audio track we get here is Japanese 2.0, a mix which left me quite pleased. (No dubbed version, thank heavens.) As Ryo moves closer to the titular wall and presses his ear to it, everything he hears is magnified through the speakers, as if we are in the room listening with him. It´s an audio effect I noticed a couple times during the film; it works to great effect in each instance.

Other ambient sounds are crisp and clear-Satsuki eating or licking her lips, for example-providing a good showcase for the mix. There is the occasional background distortion evident on all low budget films, though it doesn´t obstruct the dialogue in most instances. English subtitles are included in the Special Features menu.

EXTRAS:
A rather useless 21-minute making is the headlining bonus feature. I wish I could say it was as immersive as other pieces on foreign films have been on TLA discs ("Meatball Machine" or "Strange Circus," for example). The featurette gives the barest of information about the actually making of the film, opting to intercut seeming press kit interviews with the director and leads with behind the scenes action-the latter of which isn´t subtitled, strangely.

A selection of photos (a dozen in all) comes next, followed by a handful of trailers: "Man, Woman and the Wall" (1:39), "Strange Circus" (2:19), "Pistoleros" (2:13), "The Living and the Dead" (2:06) and "Next Door" (1:53).

PARTING THOUGHTS:
"Man, Woman and the Wall" could have been an important film, tweaking current American policy toward wiretapping and the invasion of privacy. It chose not to go that route and, instead, finds itself oddly championing and wagging its finger at the same behavior. Which side is it: good or bad?

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