[FILM REVIEW] Cyborg She (2008)

[Read on UnitedJpop]
‘Cyborg She’ (also known as ‘Boku no kanojo was saibogu’ which literally translates to ‘My Girlfriend is a Cyborg’) is a Japanese film written and directed by South Korean Kwak Jae Young. It was released in 2008.

Jirou Kitamura (Keisuke Koide) spends all of his time alone. Every year he even buys himself his own birthday gift and eats alone at the same restaurant. He is seemingly content with this set-up, but it is turned upside down when he is joined during his 20^th birthday meal by a mysteriously strange and beautiful young lady that has been following him around all day (played by Haruka Ayase).

The nameless female leads him through to an unforgettable night of fun and mischief. She is kooky and weird, but Jirou cannot help but feel drawn to her. She leaves at the end of the night and is not seen again.

Exactly a year later, Jirou is carrying out is usual birthday routine of buying himself a gift. Deep down, he holds out hope that the girl will also return to eat with him again.

He is elated when he she brings him a birthday cake at the usual restaurant, but she seems a little different from before. After the girl saves him and the entire restaurant from a mad gun-wielder, he takes her back home whereupon she plays him a holographic message sent by Jirou’s future self.

The girl is a Cyborg, created and transported by the much older Jirou to protect him from horrors that await him. She is programmed to absorb human behaviour, but it is down to Jirou to teach her.

Will he be able to assimilate the woman into human society? And what terrible things does the future hold exactly?

GOOD POINTS

The acting in this film is brilliant. The ‘Cyborg story’ is one that has been done before in Japanese films and television programmes (given the nation’s penchant for cybernetics, this is not surprising!) I was a little sceptical as to whether or not this film would bring anything new to the table for the genre. However, the great performances carried out by Koide and Ayase really help to get you sucked in to the narrative. They are so funny in a way that makes the humour not cheesy or over-the-top. Ayase also plays a robot perfectly, which is quite a challenging role in itself.

The general story is very good. Viewers are plunged into the main part of the plot quite early on in the film and pace is not lost as it continues. From my past experience, a lot of East Asian films have great stories, but tend to fall short on the speed of narrative progression which can result in viewers losing interest and missing crucial parts when they do eventually come. This is not the case with this particular piece.

Kenta Satou - who plays Jirou’s University friend, is a great addition to the story. I was quite upset that he did not get more screentime as it’s what he deserved. He brings an extra layer of comedy into an already funny film in his efforts to try and impress the Cyborg girl. He also talks about some very inappropriate things at the lunch table in one scene, which had me laughing a lot.

The relationship between Jirou and the Cyborg girl is lovely. They are playful and silly with each other, but you can also feel the love between them as it grows. They have great chemistry as a pair, which says a lot when you consider that one of them is a robot!

The fact that every person around the pair is seemingly oblivious to the rather obvious fact that the girl is a Cyborg may be something that is considered a weakness for the film. However, I quite like that factor. Yes – it is unbelievably unrealistic that people would not be going crazy over the fact that this girl is a robot when Jirou doesn’t exactly do a great job of hiding it. But I think this leaves a lot more time for the humour, silliness and the cute relationship these characters have.

A Japanese comedy film would not be complete without a randomly extrovert and slightly mad character that surprises viewers with their outbursts. The University professor that launches chalk pieces at his sleepy students during his lectures offers us this. It is the sort of thing that leaves you quite perplexed initially, only to express delayed laughter later on. It’s a great quality of Japanese humour.

BAD POINTS

The film features quite a heavy element of time travel that is revealed in the later stages. While that in itself is not a bad point, the speed of which the entire process is explained may, however, be seen as one. This is because a lot of the information is dumped on you all at once. If you are someone, like myself, that is quite slow on the uptake regarding concept of time travel, you may finish the film not fully understanding how it worked.
Personally, it took me until the following morning after watching it for all the factors to fall into place. It makes you feel very satisfied when this happens, but I raise this as a bad point as I know some viewers will dislike this complex factor being revealed at such a late stage within the piece.

OVERALL

This film is simply quite a joy to watch. I am not usually a fan of romantic comedy-type affairs, but this one executes it so subtly that you are not left sickened or cringing while watching.

This film will frequently make fans of silly humour laugh out loud on many occasions. Granted, it does not offer anything very intelligent or thought-provoking (aside from the time-travelling), but I think most people who set out to watch such a film are not looking for such.

The latter section of the film is quite fast-paced, which may leave you a little unsettled, but this is the only downside I can personally see that is large enough to be worth a mention in this review.

I recommend this film for people who are in the mood for something quirkily funny and unusual. It is sweet and undeniably foolish. If you love Japanese humour in general, then you are in for a treat with this one.

[Image Source: Google Images].