After the thriller #Manhole you will Look at the manhole cover with new eyes. At least that’s what happened to me as I bounced along Berlin’s bike lanes just before midnight, every manhole cover flashing in my eye like the freshly polished knife of a slasher villain.
I had just seen Manhole or #Manhole, which mostly takes place in such a shaft. There he explores primal fears, mouse carcasses and a insane twist, which made me question the laws of our reality. Was that a dream? The Berlinale delirium on day 4? No, it really happened. First I trembled with the hero, then the giggles took over. Not a bad movie experience.
The thriller has a simple but creepy basic idea
Boy band star Yûto Nakajima stars in the Japanese thriller. As an office drone, Kawamura, he’s actually doing quite well. The work is going on, the wedding with the daughter of the boss is coming up and the colleagues seem well disposed towards him. After a bachelor party the night before the wedding, he staggers through central Tokyo. Not for long though, as director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (My Man) knows full well what matters in a movie called #Manhole: the man hole.
Gaga Corporation/J Storm
man hole
After about 5 minutes of running time, Kawamura wakes up dirty bottom of the shaft up again with no memory of how he got there. First, a survival thriller on a small scale follows, the somewhat flatter version of Buried, 127 Hours or, more recently, Oxygen.
As a survival thriller, #Manhole offers entertaining entertainment
In survival mode, #Manhole presents itself as a competent thriller that appropriately locks us in with the prisoner. The world outside the hole remains largely hidden from him, as well as from us. Kawamura’s contact with it is limited to looking up at the moon, which peers impassively through the gully hole, and the possibilities of his smartphone.
First the situation in the shaft is explored, Escape attempts fail because of simple yet insurmountable obstacles. Then the situation is gradually aggravated, with a gas line for example, or chemical waste dripping in through a pipe.
Meanwhile, Kawamura begs for help from the dawdling police, acquaintances and ex-girlfriends. If he repeatedly talks to a wall or if his situation is not taken seriously, one shares his despair. A digital cry for help from the prisoner also provides variety: He creates a kind of Twitter account and the story goes viral. A rescue campaign with a dubious outcome begins in the anonymous expanses of the Internet. Hence the # in #Manhole.
In the finale, the thriller throws all logic out of the gully hole
Gaga Corporation/J Storm
man hole
Then comes the finale of the film. Every spectator has to experience first-hand what exactly happens. In the press release for the thriller, the entry for the author Michitaka Okada reads: Er “excels in logical screenplays.” This could be true of his other works, but Manhole is such a serious exception that this judgment must be revised for all time.
After round an hour of thriller suspense all logic evaporates and is replaced by a drastic twist that challenges everything we’ve seen before – and makes no sense at all when you think about what’s been seen.
This twist escapade is ridiculous, unbelievable, goofy and impressive in its stubbornness. I certainly couldn’t be mad at the hashtag thriller. After 11 p.m. in a Berlinale cinema, you can look forward to almost anything that keeps you awake. Even if it’s the laughter in the movie theater.