Directed by Donie Ordiales, Crosspoint is the story of a young man who moves to Japan in search of work, only to realize that it won’t be so easy for him to find work without a proper permit. Manuel won a lot of fame at a very young age, but then he stopped getting work all of a sudden, and it became difficult for him to support his family. Moving to Japan was an act of desperation, as he didn’t know what else he could do. Little did Manuel know what fate had in store for him and how his path would cross with that of an unknown man who would have a lasting impact on his life. So let’s find out what happened in the Crosspoint film and if Manuel was able to overcome the conflicts that came his way.
Spoiler Alert
What happened with Risako?
At the beginning of the film, we saw that a girl named Risako had some disagreements with her parents, and she decided not to go back to her house. A sexual predator, Tatsuya, who was prowling the streets, saw Risako alone and decided to take advantage of her situation. He, under the pretext of helping her out, told her that he had a place where she could spend the night. Tatasuya looked so timid and genuine that Risako decided to trust him. She knew it was possibly not the wisest thing to do, but she didn’t have an option. It was windy outside, and she didn’t have enough money on her to book a hotel room. So the girl went with Tatsuya, and within minutes she realized that she had committed a blunder. Tatsuya made a strange request, after which Risako knew that he could not be trusted. Tatsuya asked Risako to spit inside a small container and give him her saliva. Risako told him upfront that she was not going to do anything of that manner, and that’s when all hell broke loose as Tatsuya physically abused her. Tatsuya had raped and killed many girls and for years, yet the authorities hadn’t yet been able to catch him. The police, after a lot of struggle, were finally able to catch hold of him and put him behind bars.
Why did Manuel meet Yamaguchi?
Manuel was a professional actor and got a lot of success and fame in the late nineties. But then came a period when he stopped getting work, and this became so dire that he didn’t know how to make ends meet. Manuel’s wife was pregnant, and he knew that he needed to find ways to earn money to support his family. Manuel’s father was a wealthy man, and he was more than willing to support his son. But Manuel didn’t feel like accepting his help. Manuel had a lot of issues with his father. He hadn’t been there for him the way he would have liked. Manuel’s father was not even present at the time of his birth, and over the years he accepted the fact that his old man didn’t care for him. Manuel decided to go to Japan in search of work. He was not getting any acting jobs in the Philippines, and he had some friends in Japan who told him that they could help his cause. It was a tough decision for Manuel to make, as he knew that if he went to Japan, then he wouldn’t be present with his wife when she went into labor. Manuel’s father asked him time and again to not take that step and to come and join his business instead, but Manuel didn’t listen to him.
Meanwhile in Japan, Yamaguchi was going through a financial crisis. He was also not happy about the fact that his daughter, Mayuko, wanted to be a musician. Mayuko, for once, wanted her father to understand her passion. She wanted him to attend one of her concerts, but he never did. She told him time and again that he needed to let her make her own choices, even if she later realized that she had made a wrong decision. Yamaguchi wanted to support his daughter; he didn’t want to come in between her and her dreams, but he also didn’t want her to end up like him. Yamaguchi was beaten up by certain yakuza, and they threatened him to pay their money back if he didn’t want anything to happen to his daughter. Yamaguchi was sitting in a bar, wallowing in self-pity, when he saw a young man sitting beside him. That man was Manuel. Manuel had started working at a cafe, but one of the employees had informed the authorities that the former didn’t have a proper work permit and that he was illegally employed. Manuel didn’t have a job, and he didn’t know how he would survive in a foreign country. Yamaguchi offered to pay for his drinks as he realized that the young man didn’t have money. Both the men were having a conversation when all of a sudden the news of a sexual predator escaping from the prison was shown on the television. This criminal was Tatsuya, the same man whom we saw at the beginning of the film abusing that young girl. Manuel saw his picture, and he realized that, just a couple of hours before, he had met the same man near Gemma’s (a woman who was supposed to give work to Manuel) cafe. The moment Manuel told Yamaguchi about it, the latter got an idea. The authorities had declared that whoever caught Tatsuya would be given 10 million yen as a reward. Yamaguchi saw an opportunity, and he didn’t want to let it go.
Were Yamaguchi and Manuel able to catch Tatsuya?
Manuel didn’t think that it was a very good plan to try to catch such a dangerous man, but Yamaguchi convinced him somehow. They both went to the place where they believed that Tatsuya stayed, and Manuel’s worst fears came true. Tatsuya killed Yamaguchi, but Manuel managed to get the better of him and hand him over to the authorities. At the end, the Japanese authorities took Manuel into custody too, but it was decided no charges would be pressed against him for working in the country without a permit since he had helped them catch such a dreaded criminal. Manuel told the authorities that he had no interest in the reward, and he asked them to give it all to Yamaguchi’s daughter.
Mayuko broke down when she found out about her father’s death. She saw that Yamaguchi had an entry pass on him for the club where she performed. Until that moment, Mayuko had felt that her father didn’t want to come to any of her performances, but she realized that she was wrong. Yamaguchi had come to her concert, stood in one corner silently, and never told Mayuko about it. Mayuko felt even more guilty for being angry at her father for the last few days. Manuel went back to the Philippines, and he realized that life was too short to hold grudges. He saw how everything could end in a moment, and probably that influenced him to mend his relationship with his father. Manuel gave a tight hug to his old man and told him that he was apologetic for not treating him right. Manuel still didn’t have work, but now he had a renewed perspective. At times it only takes a change in outlook to make things right, and I believe that Manuel will find a way to support his family and bring his kid up in the best possible manner.
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