Monday (2000) - Sabu

Sabu's Monday is quite the ride- textually surrealist and often absurdist, yet underneath its frantic surface lays a pointed commentary on the binary, simplistic nature of Japanese society.  The story of a businessman who wakes up in a posh hotel room, totally clueless about how he got there, Monday chronicles this man's vague recollection of the day before, taking the viewer on a singular experience, one not confined by narrative formalism, where everything and anything seems possible.  A social satire and meticulously crafted pitch-black comedy, Monday's message is opaque at first, but throughout its playful exuberance and commanding style the film reveals an assertive take down of Japan's repressed, work-obsessed culture.  Throughout this character's journey to recall his wild night, Monday reveals a portrait of Japan that is alcohol-dependent and desperate for cheap thrills, transforming from what feels like a cautionary tale about vices and the self-serving nature and abuse they bring into something more.  Many of the cross-sections of Japanese society are showcased throughout Monday, from the Yakuza to the everyday salaryman, and through the main protagonist's odyssey Sabu reveals a film about the complexities of morality and a striking critique of the binary & simplistic examination of good vs. evil.  Stylish yet economical in execution, Sabu's Monday is a plee for more kindness in society, using the rapid escalation and perilous situation that its main protagonist finds himself in due to one bad night as an allegory about Japan and  the repetitious and perpetual nature of violence created in a society with such binary assertions about right vs. wrong, good vs. evil.