Wedding receptions in Japan tend to be ceremonious affairs. At least that was my impression until I saw Daigo Matsui’s frenetic “Remain in Twilight,” which revolves around a raucous dance number performed at a wedding reception by six guys in red fundoshi (loincloths).
However, the film, based on Matsui’s original script, is not primarily a comedy about this wacky breach of nuptial decorum. Instead, it’s a group portrait of guys who bonded in high school and, though they later went their separate ways, revert to their schoolboy personas when they get together. The effect on this outsider was somewhat like wandering into a karaoke room full of tanked strangers bellowing off-key and trading in-jokes; I wanted to beat a hasty exit.
I stuck it out, though, and saw that the film had a purpose beyond high-decibel hijinks. The friends reunite after a five-year gap to not only put on a show and have a laugh but also to mourn the death of one of their number — who is still among them as a very live-looking ghost.