Review: Ping Pong

Sketchy as its lack of dramatic detail and psychological nuance may be, Ping Pong is not without its surprises.

Ping Pong
Photo: VIZ Pictures

My little sister may be a Japonophile, but it’s still surprising that Ping Pong landed on her cine-radar before mine, especially because Kankurô Kudô‘s feature-film debut doesn’t feel modeled after the pop hyperactivity of Shaolin Soccer. This is not to say there isn’t an arresting visual brio to this goofball confection. Except for a few shots that have been slowed down to extol the sonic-speed acuity with which a player flips a paddle in his hands, few visual effects have been used to doll up the story’s mesmeric ping pong matches. Tragically, the plot of the film is not so enthralling, though Kudô‘s estimation of sportsmanship is remarkably spiritual. The story revolves around the relationship between two friends—the spastic Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) and the reserved Tsukimoto (Arata)—and their vastly different gaming styles. Tsukimoto is called “Smile” because he never does, and his initiation into the world of ping pong is conveyed via a series of flashbacks to Peco and Smile’s childhood that make absolutely no attempt to shed light on their pasts—where they came from, how they met, and how their friendship persisted into adulthood. Sketchy as its lack of dramatic detail and psychological nuance may be, Ping Pong is not without its surprises, not least of which is the way Kudô undermines whatever expectation you may have that Smile will crack a grin at some point and use his joy as some sort of secret weapon. More arresting, Kudô neatly codes allusions to yin-yangs into his frames, stressing time and again that the game of ping pong is not about winning so much as it is a matter of social camaraderie and blissful self-reflection.

Score: 
 Cast: Yôsuke Kubozuka, Arata, Sam Lee, Shido Nakamura, Koji Ookura, Naoto Takenaka, Mari Natsuki  Director: Fumihiko Sori  Screenwriter: Kankurô Kudô  Distributor: VIZ Pictures  Running Time: 115 min  Rating: NR  Year: 2002  Buy: Video

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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