"Late Bloomer": Daringly breaking a disability taboo

Chances are, you've experienced this awkwardness before, at least to some extent: You're not sure how to react when you see a disheveled person in a wheelchair, their limbs contorted by cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or some other disabling condition, unable to speak, possibly drooling a little, the spittle on their chin mixed with crumbs from a recent meal.

Perhaps you respond with silent pity or hidden disgust, or a mixture of both tempered with a hint of guilt and compassion. But would it ever occur to you that this seemingly harmless person could be a serial killer?

For daring to suggest such a thing in his creepy, taboo-busting film "Late Bloomer," Japanese writer-director Go Shibata deserves credit for obliterating the "noble cripple" stereotype of disability that has prevailed in movies for decades. You won't find any "My Left Foot" uplift in Shibata's raw, black-and-white, micro-budget digital video production. What you will find is a defiant, in-your-face reversal of the conventional and condescending images of disability that allow the able-bodied to alleviate their discomfort.

Being disabled myself, I'm well acquainted with society's lingering discomfort with disability; as a film reviewer, I've been repeatedly disappointed by films that approach disability from an insipidly "inspiring" or similarly ill-advised perspective. For that reason alone, "Late Bloomer" (released in Japan in 2004) represents a flawed but admirably risk-taking change of pace. Shibata's kamikaze filmmaking is a mixed blessing (cult favorite "Tetsuo, the Iron Man" is an obvious influence here) but there's something bracingly refreshing about a film that allows a disabled protagonist to be unabashedly and understandably evil.

Sumida-san (effectively played by disabled actor Masakiyo Sumida) doesn't let his disability stop him from having fun: He loves booze, beer and punk rock, especially when his friend and caregiver Take (Naozo Hotta) is performing with his band. His libido is decidedly undiminished, but when Take's cute niece Nobuko (Mari Torii) volunteers as his part-time caregiver, she rejects Sumida-san's tactless sexual overtures. He misinterprets her comfort with Take as a budding romance, and Take's fate is sealed with an overdose of muscle relaxants. Predictably, nobody suspects the disabled guy.

Having found a secretly lethal outlet for his pent-up frustrations, Sumida-san targets random victims while his psychological tailspin is expressed in jarring visual terms. Unfortunately, Shibata's stylized excess diminishes the film's potential impact; by tossing in everything from slo-mo, fast-mo and freeze-frames to frantic editing and a manic soundtrack suggesting Sumida-san's eroding sanity, Shibata sacrifices any deeper understanding of disability that his film might've offered. Considering its five-year production history, "Late Bloomer" is a regrettably scattershot affair.

It could also be argued that Shibata's merely trading one die-hard stereotype for another, less-comforting one. But by inviting the viewer to identify with Sumida-san instead of rejecting him outright or simplistically condemning his behavior, "Late Bloomer" dares us to consider the previously unthinkable: That disabled person you're feeling so awkward about is not necessarily a decent human being. They might even be plotting to kill you.

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net