Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

©2010「ゴールデンスランバー」製作委員会

Director Yoshihiro Nakamura’s Fish Story was my number one pick for 2009, and the talented auteur is back at it with this compelling film. Golden Slumber is successful on many levels—as a thriller, as stinging political commentary and as human drama, among others. Aoyagi (Masato Sakai) is an easygoing, somewhat naive deliveryman who had a brush with fame when he rescued a pop idol from a robbery two years before. He arranges to meet an old college friend, Morita, for what he thinks is a fishing trip, but the desperate Morita has, he explains to Aoyagi, set him up as a patsy in an assassination attempt on the prime minister. Sure enough, an explosion kills the PM and Aoyagi is forced to go on the run. Expertly crafted both technically and as a story, this film recalls the best of The Fugitive and The Prisoner—an innocent man doesn’t know who his tormentors are, but he does know they are very powerful. In the midst of all the action, Golden Slumber manages to serve up life lessons and a finely structured political critique. Stellar. (139 min)