Negotiator (2003 film)

Negotiator
Japanese poster
Based on	Kōshōnin by Takahisa Igarashi
Screenplay by	Kota Yamada
Directed by	Takashi Miike
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
Production
Running time	107 minutes
Production companies	Excellent Film Wowow
Original release
Network	Wowow
Release	August 17, 2003 (2003-08-17)

Negotiator (交渉人, Kōshōnin) is a 2003 Japanese crime TV film directed by Takashi Miike.

Plot

Three man wearing motorcycle helmets rob a convenience store then abandon their vehicle outside a hospital. A group of people are taken hostage in the hospital and Inspector Ishida and Captain Tohno handle the negotiations. Ishida suggests allowing the three criminals to escape with three doctors as their hostages in order to let the other hostages go free. After this is done, Lt. Ado tries to understand the motive for the crime. He discovers that something else is behind the crime and that the hospital was not selected by chance.

Cast

• Hiroshi Mikami as Inspector Ishida
• Mayu Tsuruta as Capt. Maiko Tohno
• Shirō Sano as Lt. Ando
• Kenichi Endō as Convenience store clerk
• Masatō Ibu as Ishida's boss
• Renji Ishibashi as Counselor Kanemoto
• Kumi Nakamura as Mrs. Ishida
• Shigemitsu Ogi
• Oji Osuga
• Kenji Takechi as SAT
• Yōji Tanaka

Reception

Reviewer Panos Kotzathanasis of asianmoviepulse.com called the film "a TV movie that strays much away from the violence and the absurdness usually associated with Miike’s works. In fact, the Japanese master takes full advantage of a multi-leveled story, full of plot twists, in order to present a thriller that thrives on atmosphere and characters, to the point that it could also be described as a psychological drama." The review continues, "The cinematography of the film is excellent, with Miike using a muted color palette that suits a story that unfolds mostly during the night and in settings with little light, quite nicely. However, the most exceptional aspect is the framing, with the camera portraying a number of scenes that present both the actual situation and the underlying psychology, exceptionally." The review concludes, "For its great, even if it goes a bit overboard, story, impressive cinematography, and even as a rare exercise in restraint for Miike, 'The Negotiator' definitely deserves a watch."

Mubi Notebook's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky praised the film, writing, "It shouldn't be overlooked that Negotiator happens to be a very broadly entertaining film, and sometimes a conventionally accomplished one, just as it was intended to be."

Todd Brown of Screen Anarchy wrote, "It has an admirable level of complexity for a commercial thriller but lacks some of the bang and dazzle that people often demand from this sort of film."

The website onderhond.com gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5, writing, "If you haven't seen too many Miike films yet, this one might come as quite the surprise. The Negotiator is an extremely polished, sane and structured film, one that sticks very neatly to genre conventions and colors inside the lines. Miike goes full for execution here, the coolest thing is that he actually manages to pull it off. [...] No crazy characters, no baffling moments, no typical Miike moments. The Negotiator mixes drama and crime elements and offers a detailed narrative that unravels the rather complex story bit by bit, without ever skipping a beat. Performances are decent, and the film looks polished, so if you love a good negotiator flick, or you want to look beyond Miike's more celebrated film [sic], this comes warmly recommended."

A review on the website the14amazons.co.uk reads, "It doesn't feel much like a Takashi Miike film, to be honest, but one of the man's strengths is his chameleon-like ability to adopt totally different styles. There's no diversions into black humour or genre-smashing, but elements of the story-telling techniques and editing do betray his touch. He clearly feels his script and cast are capable of making a strong film without his spicing it up - and he is largely correct. The result is a solid drama that engages the brain and the heart, but lacks the invention or wit that Miike delivers in his more personally styled films. Whilst the film does definitely hold some surprises, I am fairly sure they should be attributed to the original novelist rather than the director. It's a good film, and Miike's skills as a director certainly can't be called into question because of it, but it's not one of those films that you couldn't imagine any other director on the planet having produced - which just means that it's not one of Miike's best :)"

External links

• Negotiator at IMDb