Virus (1980) June 2, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Blogroll, Thriller, 1980s films , trackbackDirector: Kinji Fukasaku Cast: Masao Kusakari, Bo Svenson, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn Territory: Japan
A horrifying man-made virus is unleashed onto the world – killing everyone except the world’s scientists stationed in Antarctica and the crew of a nuclear submarine which set sail before the outbreak. The stunned survivors gather together, but find that old nationalistic prejudices still apply despite the apocalypse. Then, a final act of human stupidity threatens to destroy the Antarctic base and finally put an end to mankind.
My all-time favourite novel is Stephen King’s The Stand, which has clearly been used as a template for the apocalyptic theme of this film. Both use a man-made flu-like virus which is accidentally unleashed (although I can’t remember now if this was ever explicitly mentioned in the first published version of The Stand, which was the only version available at the time this film was made) and devastates the world. It does then veer off in a different direction, with the survivors at the South Pole trying to resurrect the human race against a Cold War backdrop.
To give it its due Virus has aged particularly well, Cold War references aside. A lot of the themes could well apply today, and, for a film set in the near future of 1982, that is certainly quite a feat. The scope of the film is also extremely commendable – it seems that no sociological issue is left unaddressed. It’s often a downfall of films like these that gloss over certain important issues, whether it be social, sexual, political, national or suchlike.
And that’s where, I think, the film falls down. I feel Virus never really establishes a focus. It can be reasonably said that there is no “star” of this film, and that can be a tad disconcerting. A case could be made that Masao Kusakari is the focus as he has the most screen time, but his character is as broadly drawn as anybody’s, really. And his English is not quite good enough to carry him through the picture – there were several times I found myself struggling to understand him.
I also have trouble with the film’s response to sexual attitude – after the rape of one of the community’s eight women, the response is along the lines of “well, it’s terrible, but it’s bound to happen”. They then rule that the women must, essentially, “service” the 850-odd men on a rota basis. The women, evidently, do not argue against this. Abstinence is not an option, then?
All of the detail that Virus goes into portray the end of the world makes for a pretty plodding movie, and it’s only in the last half hour that it really takes off. I understand the film bombed on release, which is probably why I’d never heard of it until about three weeks ago. But the large-scale international cast and high production values (it was the most expensive film from Japan at the time) do make for a reasonably well-presented project. However, Chuck Connors as an Englishman? I think not! Actually, the best bit of casting goes to the bloke who played Dr Horatio Kane in my old favourite Kill and Kill Again. He even gets a couple of lines!
The version reviewed here is the full Japanese version, which has been remastered and presented in widescreen and runs at about 2 hours 35 minutes. There are other versions available, but they are abridged and usually fullscreen. The full-length version can be obtained on Region 1 DVD on the “Sonny Chiba Action Pack”, which is odd as it’s not an action movie nor a Sonny Chiba movie (he has about thirty seconds worth of screen time and maybe two lines of dialogue). Although it can’t complete with other apocalypse films (one of my favourites is a little New Zealand film called The Quiet Earth) it is rather a shame that the film seems to have fallen by the wayside and largely been forgotten.
Comments»
Doesn’t seem to have lived up to my own personal expectations in that case - though the eight women on a rota seems like a fun addition
- I thought the film sounded like it might be great from what little I knew about it. You really should do a a shot by shot comparison with the region 2 disc I think (which I believe you have in your collection). Actually, joking aside, it may be worth checking out the shorter version as it might move at an improved pace? Longer is not always better, contrary to what my missus says. Two and a half hours sounds a tad excessive, apocalypse or not.
I may have a browse through the R2 disc at some point but I can’t see myself sitting down and watching the whole thing somehow. I did consider it, but the fact that it’s cropped and the transfer’s pretty dodgy put me off.
High adventure film.
Excuses, excuses, these comment are from folks who haven’t even seen this movie. I’m a fan of apocalyptic movies. Just picked up the sonny chiba dvd to watch the 156 minute version. Have only seen the VHS version that was released way back when(105 mins?).
This movie reminds me of the best aspects of “the land that time forgot(1975).” Submarines + exotic locations = fun movie watching
paulwjm “…though the eight women on a rota seems like a fun addition
-” Since when is rape a fun addition? My guess is that you didn’t quite mean what you said there? Care to restate?