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1997(1st) ~ 2024(28th)
World Fantastic Cinema
NISHI Fuyuhiko
Japan2009 81 min Digibeta C Korean Premiere
High Kick Girl is a karate action flick. Like most martial arts, karate stresses physical training as a means of mental discipline. So all the fighting in High Kick Girl is, ostensibly, meant to demonstrate the foolishness of indiscriminate displays of strength. This is the lesson Karate master and teacher MATSUMURA imparts to his female student TSUCHIYA, who flaunts her skill purely to win. But the premise isn’t all that important here; its sole function is to showcase the film’s karate action. And karate action is what you get, from beginning to end. The effects emphasize the actual impact of the blows, constantly reminding the viewer of the authenticity of the fight sequences. Director NISHI Fuyuhiko’s pedigree as a true-blue martial arts director provides additional weight. (He even appeared in a supporting role in this film.) The slow motion action scenes amp up the drama and powerfully illustrate the thirst for survival, which appears to be the director’s intended theme. But the film is also the coming-of-age story of TSUCHIYA, the titular ‘High Kick Girl.’ In her final duel, she realizes that karate is a sport necessary for survival and self-preservation. But, again, that isn’t all that important. In the end, High Kick Girl is neither more nor less than an action flick. (HUH Nam Woong)
Born in 1965. Graduated ‘Law School of Waseda University’. He participated as a producer and a martial art director of