RINGING IN THEIR EARS (Japan, 2011)
Directed by: Yu Irie
Starring: Fumi Nikaido, Kurumi Morishita, Mikito Tsurugi, Keisuke Horibe, Shinsei Kamattechan, Cay Izumi

Welcome to a blood and thunder sermon in the church of rock. Ecstatic, funny, transcendent - if Robert Altman’s Nashville had been about rock music instead of country music, it would be RINGING IN THEIR EARS, the latest from festival favorite, Yu Irie, whose hip hop films, 8000 Miles and 8000 Miles 2 were crowd favorites at last years’ NYAFF. But this movie is a mighty leap forward for him - a sophisticated film that leaves his indie cinema roots far behind.

It’s a week before the biggest concert ever by Shinsei Kamattechan, an underground band that found a huge fanbase on the internet and is now going big time. Their new label wants them to become more mainstream, their lead singer is getting flakier by the minute, and their manager is caught in the middle. So far, so familiar. But then the movie reaches out in all directions. Michiko (Fumi Nikaido) is a high school student whose grades are bombing because all she wants to do is become a championship shogi (Japanese chess, but more boring) player and her dad is throwing her out of the house. Kaori (Kurumi Morishita) is a single mom desperate to connect to her son, Ryota, who only has time for his laptop. Ryota, in turn, is trapped in a kindergarten where the teachers just don’t understand him and want him expelled. The movie moves its attention out in concentric waves of focus until you feel like you know everyone attending the concert that night, fans as well as band.

And then comes the concert. A 20 minute montage switching between the band, the world behind-the-scenes and the lives of almost everyone watching, both in the room and online, it winds up becoming a masterful piece of cinema that manages to wrap up not just the hopes and fears of everyone involved in the movie, but the broken, lonely heart of the entire world. Reaching out to shut-ins, trend-followers, iconoclasts, rebels, conformists, sell-outs and those who never quit, it’s proof, if you ever needed it, that rock and roll won’t just save your soul. It’ll save everybody’s.