PING PONG (2002)
Directed by Fumihiko Sori
Starring: Yosuke Kobozuka, ARATA, Shido Nakamura
Genre: Sport/Drama/Comedy
Running Time: 114mins

Rating:

Childhood friends Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka) and Smile (ARATA) - affectionately nicknamed due to the fact that he never smiles - are at the top of their game. Peco the loud brash player avoids practice at his high school preferring to make small time bets at the local ping pong den. Meanwhile Smile is reared by a former champion turned school coach (played by the wonderful Naoto Takenaka) to compete in the upcoming national tournament. Joined in the tournament by Peco, his nemesis and rival school pupil Akuma, national champion Dragon and the aptly named China (a chinese student sent to defeat the champion) the stage is set for a competition littered with wonderful characters, tournaments but most of all friendship and respect.

Wow.

A great feel good movie that is an unashamedly over the top sentimental comedy, Ping Pong just hits all the right notes I simply cannot praise it enough. Fumihiko Sori's debut film was one of the finest Japanese films to be released last year, displaying a visual panache to match the gentle humour. Ping Pong makes for a refreshing change, a very human, very warm story, the perfect antidote from the abundance of extreme cinema that is so readily output and consumed. There is no sense of evil in the film just the simple (yet effective) matter of rivalry and friendships, it's uplifting without being overly sentimental and by the end you will suddenly want to pick up a ping pong bat and start playing.

Basically what we have is a throwback to all those 80's "overcoming-the-odds" films that were in abundance way back when. The good old setup of a national tournament as a finale is a cheeseball idea and the film acknowledges this packing into its running time an impressive line of charicatures that come straight from the pages of Taiyo Matsumoto's manga with wonderful accuracy. The story and characters are clear cut representations of its manga counterpart - filled to the brim with their own little eccentricities they appear completely unique from one another. Not one character is vaguely similar - each has a specific trait to set them apart from the rest.

Building towards the big showdown the film is a celebration of the genre, predictable maybe but told with such style and such an assured sense of control that you can't help but be won over by the charm of Fumihiko's film. The beautiful cinematography (shot on Digital Video - though you wouldn't think it to look at it) blending brilliantly with some stunning CG work make this film an absolute peach of a purchase. CG ping pong balls fly through the air at incredible speed the camera tracking its every movement with accuracy, a mosquito flitters on the edge of a net, all the tricks are pulled in order to fill the film with the small details, to make each frame fresh and vibrant. It works, Fumihiko can not be accused of over stylising his film, it is the very nature of his source material, however, furthermore from this it is clear that the time has also been invested in the emotional core of the story resulting in both a lyrical and an aesthetic beauty that go perfectly hand in hand. Ping Pong quite literally has it all.

Featuring an ensemble cast that boasts ARATA (last seen as the brooding worker in After Life here seen almost mockingly as the brooding character "Smile" named so because he never does) Naoto Takenaka (everyone's favourite character actor from Waterboys to Gonin to Andromedia to every damn film you've ever seen practically) Mari Natsuki (last seen in Samurai Fiction, last heard as Yubaba in Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi) and then newcomer Yosuke Kubozuka (recently featured in Laundry) as the protagonist Peco the ensemble cast all perform above and beyond what is expected of them.

Backed by a great soundtrack of techno J-pop by Supercar that pushes the visceral delights of the ping pong duels to a heightened freneticism the editing is spot on providing not only thrills, but also many moments of perfect comic timing. A fine example can be seen in the obliteration of a confidence lacking opponent defeated with a final strike of a ping pong ball bouncing from his nose. In addition, Ping Pong is a film of sheer beauty. A sequence of burning white serenity used to highlight a genuine love of the game and an appreciation of the experience is a truly profound and moving moment.

Not one wrong key is struck by neither cast nor crew - Ping Pong is simply a joy to watch. Transcending the trappings of the competitive sports genre with moments of poetic beauty and charming humour, Ping Pong is a true discovery that unfortunately is still missing the audience it so clearly deserves.

Go get it. You won't be disappointed.