SWING GIRLS

Alternate Title: Girls Meet Jazz!!!
Country: Japan
Release Year: 2004
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Music
Lanuage: Japanese
Running Time: 105 minutes

[Cast]
Juri Ueno
Naoto Takenaka
Eriko Watanabe
Yukari Toshima
Yuta Hiraoka
Nagisa Abe
Yuika Motokariya

[Director]
Shinobu Yaguchi





Watching SWING GIRLS, makes me feel good!

It's the type of movie you can watch anytime of the day. The acting performance of the young japanese cast is so wholesome, and loveable, you just can't help but fall in love with their characters. I waited in anticipation of the DVD release of the movie because I really enjoyed the last movie director Shinobu Yaguchi directed back in 2001, WATERBOYS.

What I just said about SWING GIRLS, can also be said for WATERBOYS, because in a sense they are practically the same movie with a few tweaks of course. Knowing this however did not deter me from enjoying this fun, japanese comedic movie romp.



Director Shinobu Yaguchi really seems to understand adolescents, and growing up in rural Japan. He absorbs the japanese teenage culture and he presents to us the viewer what we would otherwise not have seen or even be aware of. The different cultural aspects is another boundary to overcome when dealing in humor. Fact is what may seem funny and hilarious to one culture might not be for another. Director Shinobu Yaguchi however gets over this hump with little or no problems at all. He is able to present to viewers from other countries, the type of humor the japanese people find hilarious with little or no loss of humor.



He shows us that not all japanese teens are brand chasers, and not everyone is into buying expensive labeled apparels nor are they obsessed with demonic anime characters with 10,000 tentacles. Director Shinobu shows us that japanese teens, are also into simple things like Synchronized Swimming, and in this case Jazz. He also shows us that not all japanese teens are into high-tech stuff either that, they are also into simple things like taking a part-time job, pawning stuff you don't need anymore, and forming your own Jazz band.

Just like the boys in WATERBOYS tackling Synchronized Swimming, Shinbou Yaguchi does with SWING GIRLS with cute high school japanese girls taking the challenge in learning how to play wind instruments. I personally remember playing the clarinet back in my junior high days I, for the life of me cannot even make a lousy sound on that thing. That's why I chose to play the violin but enough about me back to the review.

Tomoko, played by Juri Ueno is the main character of the movie. Her character's antics and mischiefs is what Alfred Hitchcock would call The MacGuffin.

(The MacGuffin is a device that was employed by Hitchcock in order to create motivation and drive for the characters in a given film. info from tdfilm.com)

Tomoko drives the story and flow of the film. It was her idea to convince the girls in her summer make up math class to join the band. Summer make up class is another word for Summer School F.Y.I. However with no intention of ever learning really but to instead play hookie, little did she know that she and the girls would actually enjoy playing in the band.

How ironic indeed.



Tomoko and her four friends gets in and out of trouble and it is the joy of watching them deal with their current situation that makes the pacing and the story a pleasure to watch. There is so much events and key funny scenes in this movie you'll literally will have to watch it numerous times to be able to enjoy everything that is happening in the film.

You will quickly get attached with the five main characters in the film. Tomoko, the leader she plays the Saxophone, Nakamura, the bumbling pianist, Sekiguchi, she plays the Trombone she and Tomoko are my favorite! there's also Tanaka, she plays the Drums, and Yoshie, she plays the Trumpet. Together they are the nucleus in what is to become the big band Jazz that is going to be lead by Tomoko, and taught by Ozawa and no one will dare stand in their way.

This movie is so much fun I've watched it I don't know how many times and still, I enjoy every minute of it. I personally love the scene where they go picking matsutake mushrooms out in the woods and what ensues is probably one of the funniest scene ever incorporated with a classic tune from the last century. I must say I laughed my jaws off and ended up teary eyed it's that funny!!!

Naoto Takenaka plays as Tadahiko Ozawa their Math Teacher turned Jazz teacher, his performance in this movie is so funny so hilarious you simply like the guy, he has a simple humor about him he's hilarious in a quiet subtle way just like the character he played in WATERBOYS as the Dolphin Trainer. Having Naoto Takenaka in any movie is a major plus.

You don't have to like Jazz in order to enjoy SWING GIRLS, you don't even have to like music period. The sheer amount of joy you'll get watching this movie is enough to glue your eyes unto the television for its entirety. If you happen to like Jazz however there's no question you'll get a kick out of this simple, hilarious, japanese comedy. As you watch you'll slowly see how the girls develop and become the full-blown Jazz artists they all worked so hard to become, the performance towards the end of the film is simply breathtaking, I swear it made the hair on the back of my head stand on end not to mention it gave me goose bumps.

Director Shinobu Yaguchi also shows us the things that we all went through growing up for instance, begging our parents to buy us that expensive 'thing' we want. Of course the majority of the parents out there would've said "...the last time we bought you something you never stuck with it!" or something similar anyway. He also shows us the lengths we all took as a teenager to get the things we did want.

Everyone can relate to Tomoko's trials and the things that she goes through in the movie. Friends that stuck with her through the end, and discovering the shallow acquaintances whom she thought were friends. This movie is chock-full of japanese humor, simple and effective punchlines are scattered throughout the movie and never tries too hard. It doesn't have to because the different scenarios are so full of different jokes and madcap hilariousness that the viewer only has to pay attention, and they will be taken for a very refreshing japanese comedic ride.

Thank God for Shinobu Yaguchi for bringing us another japanese comedy gem.
SWING GIRLS, like WATERBOYS is like a bottle of spring water, it's ahhhh.....so refreshing!!!




Also:

If you are the type of viewer who likes to listen to music soundtracks like me, you definitely have to own the SWING GIRLS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (UNIVERSAL) It's around ¥2600 here in Tokyo, that's about $20.00 USD. Might be more if you're outside Japan, but it's well worth it! You'll enjoy the soundtrack as much as you enjoyed the movie, especially if you loved this awesome flick...guaranteed!!!