I was very impressed with Welsh director John Williams' Japanese language debut Firefly Dreams and have been looking forward to seeing his follow up, Starfish Hotel (2006). While the former was an Ozu-esque family drama, the latter is a Murakmi-esque derivative mystery. The tone and casting seems right, but there is something simplistic or clunky about the story of an average everyday salaryman, Arisu (Koichi Sato) who has a gorgeous wife, Chiasato (Tae Kimura) and gorgeous mistress, Kayoko (Kiki) which leads him into trouble when his wife starts working in a brothel as a form of revenge. The center of the mystery is a cypher-like man dressed in a rabbit suit (appropriating Donnie Darko?) know as Mr. trickster (Akira Emoto) and a Murakami-like mystery writer (Kazayoshi Kushida). I enjoyed the film, but I don't think it was as effective or as heartfelt as his debut.
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