The Journalist (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Michihito Fujii
	Actors: Eun-kyung Shim, Tôri Matsuzaka, Tsubasa Honda
	Country: J
	Genre: Thriller, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 12.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: A newspaper journalist receives an anonymous fax with explosive information. As she follows the trail, she comes across questions that also concern the official Sugihara. The two uncover a scandal that reaches up into the highest circles of the Japanese government. But the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous the situation becomes for both of them
Review: I was disappointed by this political thriller. I was expecting something better soon after watching The Pelican Brief, and thinking about All the President's Men from the same director. The story is a bit confused (to me), the stakes not that high, and neither the journalist nor the government employee very charismatic. The movie is better replaced in the Japanese context, a country where "there is an informal agreement between mainstream media and the government that is hardly ever questioned: Journalists are not too persistent in their criticism, in turn representatives of the government grant direct access to select information through press conferences" (description given on the website of the Nippon Connection 2020 Festival at which the film was shown). The novel from which the movie is adapted apparently made a fuss in Japan, and maybe watching the documentary shot around the movie (i -Documentary Of The Journalist, shown at the same Festival but which we haven't seen) helps under the context even better. But for an outside audience and from a pure cinematographic point of view, the movie is forgettable. It contains all the tropes you would expect from such a movie: the journalist digging old newspapers and bothering victims, the mole, the bad guys and the too-powerful governmental organization... but it doesn't take. At least it didn't for me. You can hear more about this movie in our video review.
Rating: 5 /10