SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS (1981)

School in the Crosshairs (1981)
Directed by: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
Written by: Taku Mayumura
Starring: Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ryoichi Takayanagi, Toru Minegishi

Now Available from Third Window Films on Blu-ray and to Stream

Part of the Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 80s Kadokawa Years Collection

Time for a film about extra-sensory perception and alien beings from Venus. Which, if these kind of movies are to be believed, are the sort of things that happen at schools in Japan all the time. But beyond the surreal waking dreams and nightmares of Obayashi’s work, famously seen in 1977’s House, what about real life study? Interestingly in this case he takes a lot of time to explore the idea of academic work versus sports clubs, and conformity against individual freedom. Should psychic powers be used to cheat in Kendo matches? Should roller-skating kids be stripped of their willpower by patrols of brainwashed committee members? Perhaps these questions answer themselves but it’s still an entertaining, if mostly light-hearted, examination of these kinds of issues.

Yuka (Hiroko Yakushimaru) is at the top of her class and is seemingly adored by everyone, except for jam-jar wearing swot Arikawa (Macoto Tezuka). However, her totally non-romantic best friend Koji (Ryoichi Takayanagi) is only interested in sword fighting. She comes from a fairly well-off family and just wants to please her parents, but he’s heir to a beer delivery store and doesn’t have any interest in going to college. These are all thinly drawn characters but they represent the broad themes of the story. There are no prizes for guessing who will be the reluctant hero, which one is a rebel, and which will side with the nefarious invaders. But that’s what makes all of this so charming as the narrative focuses on a school in which grades are low but sports are popular. It’s fun to watch even when mundane everyday life is being portrayed.

Part of this is due to the director’s penchant for hand-drawn matte effects and strange side characters. Many outdoor scenes have painted skies, perhaps to suggest that strange forces are at work. Why shoot on location normally when you can draw the buildings and trees? Koji lives next door to an oddball neighbour with a pet chimpanzee and car chases are shot with a wild animated momentum. Some kind of school club recruitment drive turns into a musical set piece full of synchronised dancers and musical video style choreography. The middle of the film is unfortunately less engaging, focusing on a simple battle between dictates and personal expression, before jumping into a psychedelic finale. It’s a movie following some pretty conventional dramatic beats, so the film-making style often elevates the material.

The main source of drama comes with the arrival of emotionless new student Michiru (Masami Hasegawa), who promises to bring up the class averages while stamping out slackers, smokers, and peeping-toms. If it’s all for the greater good then what could be the downside? Of course it’s soon clear that Michiru and Arikawa are in league with Kyugoku (Toru Minegishi) the man with the Venusian perm. His appearance seems to be the reason that Yuka has developed supernatural powers, allowing her to reverse time and save a child from being killed by a truck. The nature of their mental connection, and his exact plan, is pretty vague, but she’s soon able to use this new-found ability to improve Koji’s Kendo skills. Will she join Michiru in the scheme to control the other students, or will this all be a cautionary tale about abusing positions of authority?

The overall tone and message has all the complexity of a weekday BBC children’s show, and most of the conflicts along the way are about as predictable. So while the villain may look like someone from a 1960s Doctor Who serial there are few real cliffhanger moments. Still, there are a few wrinkles in the narrative as things unfold. While the mood at the school becomes much more studious and calm, certain members of staff are not happy with the sudden change in everyone’s behaviour. It’s no surprise that the outspoken gym teacher is the first one to try and figure out what a secret after-school academy is doing. Of course the action taken by the adults has little effect, leaving Yuka to lead a rebellion against the invaders. However, while things take a darker turn there are a lot of missing pieces, leaving the build up to the conclusion feeling oddly rushed.

The dimension-hopping final battle does at least fill out the quota for those bizarre special effects fans of House will be after. Earlier moments involving hypnotic eyes, strangely unreal sunsets, and film stock changing to monochrome, are a taste of what’s to come. Yuka and Koji have to use their innate human powers (compassion and courage) against the calculating and unfeeling menace. Laser beams and shooting stars seem to be drawn onto the screen, while characters are transformed into paper cut-outs as the conflict zooms through a surreal vision of outer space. Putting artifice ahead of reality means that a lot of the odd logic gaps can be forgiven, if this kind of film-making style is your cup of tea that is. Pop songs and pop art are use to amplify what is a pretty generic script, for better or worse.

At the end of the day you’ve seen this kind of thing before in many other guises. Teenagers suspicious of adults, in a school setting or elsewhere, must figure out a mystery and avert a crisis. All the usual clichés are present and correct, so perhaps things could have been pushed further in terms of overt strangeness, and overt metaphors. Can reality bending powers ever be used for good if their source is evil? Is having fun in a band or in a sports team better than learning a vocation? These are simple questions and this is a simple story, so making it more complex might take away its identity. On the other hand there are many other films with this kind of message. Telling this tale in a darker mode with a more scathing rebuke of authority would lose some of its unique charm.

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