I Just Didn't Do It (VCD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) VCD

This is the losing hand that Teppei (Ryo Kase), the victimized hero of Masayuki Suo's I Just Didn't Do It, has been dealt with. Straying far from the comic charm of his 1996 classic Shall We Dance, Suo takes a 180-degree turn into serious drama with this infuriating look at the Japanese court system. Showing Teppei's prosecution step-by-step from arrest to sentencing, Suo's film is the result of years of research and his resulting anger towards the Japanese legal system.

Unlike the United States, where defendants are only guilty when proven beyond any reasonable doubt, defendants in Japan have to make an effort to undo any presumed guilt. Even though Teppei's case is mostly built on circumstantial evidence (e.g., pornography in his apartment) and witness testimonies that are proven to be unreliable, his team of attorneys (played by Koji Yakusho and Asaka Seto) has to go to the depths of recreating the entire incident (with surprising comic effect) to prove Teppei's innocence.

Despite Suo's admitted anger, his direction is fairly restrained, showing every single step that Teppei goes through in the court system with realism and accuracy. Even though the details threaten to drain the film of its drama, Suo finds a balance between presenting the truth and intriguing characters worth following. Ryo Kase plays Teppei without much emotion (a man in such an overwhelming situation would rarely have any), but his righteous naiveté also makes him an immensely likable character that's worth following and rooting for.

Suo also doesn't reach for anything beyond his portrayal of the imperfect Japanese court system. By choosing to not delve into the psychology of groping or even the possible consequences of exonerating the guilty (of course, that's not very likely given the fact that only 3% of people are exonerated in such cases), Suo's film is detailed without becoming overstuffed with ideology. Even though sticking strictly to the facts gives I Just Didn't Do It a focus that effectively sustains the drama for its long 142-minute running time, inserting such related issues would've stirred up even more intriguing post-screening debates.

In 2009, Japan will be introducing a lay judge system, in which citizen jury members, not one judge, decide on the fate of the accused. This makes I Just Didn't Do It even more timely as a record (albeit fictional) of the soon-to-be-outdated court system. Even though Suo made the film out of his frustration with the system, it's also presented in a surprisingly even-handed fashion. Teppei may be surrounded by people who automatically believe that he's guilty, but he also encounters kind souls within the system, including a kind judge who's as lenient as he is fair and a legal advocate in a similar situation as Teppei.

Of course, I Just Didn't Do It is still a damning indictment of Japanese society's general attitude towards law and order, from careless train station staffs to the entire legal system, and even to the real train gropers themselves. If you believe in justice and you care about how your own justice system works, I Just Didn't Do It will enlighten as much as it will infuriate you. If Suo makes good on his promise to make more films about the Japanese legal system, then the man whose career success came from a ballroom dancing movie may just end up becoming one of Japan's most important filmmakers.

By Kevin Ma