The film opens with a nice bit of misdirection: a western scene of cowboys on horseback riding through the sage but, as it turns out, with Japanese cowboys. The camera pulls back and we are in a bar with a Japanese guy singing “Don’t Fence Me In.” His buddies are singing backup. The film is on a Karaoke machine. The leading singer has a little spat with his high maintenance blonde mistress and he follows her outside where they get into his $200,000 sports car and zoom off. We realize we are in LA, not Tokyo. The camera cuts to a high-powered negotiation between a Japanese firm and an American technology firm. The Japanese have the board room bugged with all kinds of high tech whatsis that allows them to eavesdrop on every little aside the Americans make to each other with the comments whispered in their ear in real time thru the miracle of electronics…

Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes play a pair of police officers who are called to investigate a murder that takes place in that very same board room during a gala party downstairs, commemorating the opening of the new Japanese skyscraper. Connery is a Japanese expert, but considered unreliable by the LAPD; Snipes just is on-call for Japanese liaison duty for the night, but as luck would have it, the murder happens on his watch. Together, this unlikely pair must solve the mystery of whodunit while wending their way through the obstructionist web thrown up by both the Japanese company and the LAPD…

Rising Sun is based on a book by Michael Crichton and both the book and movie have had mixed reviews. One camp says it is excellent commentary on the true relations between the USA and Japan while the other calls it racist drivel and Japan bashing. Because of my international business studies and love of history, I fall more into the former camp because, as the Japanese point out in the movie, in their view “Business is War.” The Japanese military tradition that spawned the samurai and the martial arts and led up to the most recent transgressions that resulted in WWII has been sublimated into the business world. Instead of commanding armies and flotillas, the high ranking Japanese today are captains of industry. Behind the scenes, their powerful companies form cartels that work together to bring about the destruction of their rival companies. While I have read comments that the book has far more detail on the realities of Japanese business practices, the movie hints enough at these things to be a pretty convincing exposé, in my opinion. The screenplay wraps this subtext in the murder mystery and we are allowed a bit of insight into the Japanese mind through the actions of Connery as he reveals it to Snipes.

The murder mystery itself is quite compelling and you will probably not know whodunit until the movie itself reveals it. I like the story because it is entertaining and the subtext of East meets West resonates with me personally.

The acting is overall very good, with Snipes miscast as the partner for the sophisticated Connery. The one big scene where Snipes can play his patented angry black man fizzles as the object of his anger (Connery) stands by bemused, and when they give him a comic relief scene where he leads the pursuing Japanese Yakuza (gangsters) into the ghetto, he is unconvincing as a cool streetwise guy, also. Understand, it is not a BAD performance, it is just not up to the standard of the rest of the cast which is powerful. Harvey Keitel plays another police detective who churns out one-liners with the aplomb of a veteran comedian like Don Rickles. Steve Buscemi appears as a sleazy reporter. Tia Carrere plays the largest female role as a computer whiz who is ostracized by the Japanese because she is of mixed race. The other female players are mainly high dollar prostitutes entertaining the Japanese businessmen (and the viewer) with their mostly naked antics. The Japanese characters are played by little known actors except for Mako, who starred in The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen and has been a frequent guest star on TV. All of the Japanese actors, however, do a bang up job, particularly noteworthy is the millionaire playboy Eddie (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa).

Camera and lighting is excellent and direction keeps the pace moving with plenty of well done plot twists and misdirection. Score by Toru Takemitsu is excellent and well suited to the visuals.

The Fox DVD is presented in 1.85: 1 widescreen and includes subtitles and French language audio as well as English.

When it comes to entertainment, it is hard to beat Rising Sun. For fans who would like to see another movie like this one, I would recommend The Yakuza, starring Robert Mitchum.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening