The 57 minute DAY OF DESTRUCTION/HAKAI NO HI was intended to mark the opening of the Tokyo Olympics on July 24, 2020, an event the film’s writer-producer-director Toshiaki Toyoda views as a “day of destruction.” The coronavirus, however, turned the film into something else entirely, albeit something quite appropriate to Toyoda’s aggrieved and unsettled conception. Capitalism is among his major targets, as is Japan’s current government (which Toyoda has described as “absolutely the worst”).
The film begins in black and white, with an insanely protracted four minute series of tracking shots through an underground mine—a fair warning that this won’t be anyone’s idea of a typical monster movie. Those shots follow Shinno, a businessman who’s paid the mine’s owner to view a monster, in the form of an indistinct twitching mass, residing therein.
Seven years later the residents of the town situated atop the mine, now seen in full color, are afflicted by an odd epidemic. They do things like shut themselves up in coffins and rant incoherently about the buried monster, which has taken on the status of a deity. The critter, it seems, has become trapped belowground via an earthquake, but continues to exert its influence on the people above. Opposing it is Jiro, a local monk who trains Teppei, an acolyte, to fight the monster, while Teppei’s deceased sister’s ghost makes frequent appearances in an increasingly hostile and indifferent environment.
Previous films by Toshiaki Toyoda include TOKYO RAMPAGE/PORUNO SUTA (1998), BLUE SPRING/AOJ HARU (2001) and 9 SOULS/NAIN SOURUZU (2003), thoughtfully crafted and stylistically assured efforts all. THE DAY OF DESTRUCTION, a low budgeter shot over the course of seven days, continues that tradition, with a succession of wide shots presented in a highly ritualistic manner that pays more attention to rhythm and symbolism (included is a shot of the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship to make absolutely sure we understand the covid connection) than it does narrative trappings. This means a confusing and ultimately unsatisfying film with unmemorable characters that never resolves itself into anything of any real consequence.
But as with his previous films, Toyoda’s cinematic prowess is quite something to behold. The widescreen imagery of cinematographer Kenji Maki is brilliantly composed, and all the more impressive given that much of the film was shot guerilla style on the streets of Tokyo. Toyoda’s use of music, from the Japanese rock bands Gezan, Mars89 and Seppuku Pistols, is another superbly modulated element; music is an integral part of most of Toyoda’s previous films, and here it’s utilized as both an inducement to and enhancement of the imagery.
Vital Statistics
THE DAY OF DESTRUCTION (HAKAI NO HI)
Imagination/Second Sight
Director/Producer/Screenplay: Toshiaki Toyoda
Cinematography: Kenji Maki
Cast: Kiyohiko Shibukawa, MahiToThePeople, Issei Ogata, Itsuki Nagasawa, Shima Ohnishi, Yôsuke Kubozuka, Ryûhei Matsuda