All movies are inherently odd. Even straightforward movies have often ludicrous premises. Even so, every once in a while (or more often, if you are me, and have my friends) you see a movie that defies all logic and is utterly bizarre. Here are eight. The following are Japanese, of course, a nation that seems adept at making alien, exotic, excellent movies. However, they won't include any Takashi Miike movies, because a) I've already talked about them, and b) there're too many to bother with. So, let's talk about movies that I haven't mentioned yet. Chances are, if you've seen the no. 1 on this list, you'll know exactly what it is. Spoilers abound. Also noteworthy, Suicide Club.
Thoughts: The
story is bizarre, though not as much as the others later on in this list. What is most
impressive is the sheer variety of visual styles used, the amount of
effort must have been extraordinary. My overriding memories are being impressed with the manic intensity of the story, and the incredibly imagination of the art. Interesting despite the sensory overload and epileptic
fit you get by watching it.
Best Moment: the extended piece in the whale is good.
Thoughts: Before seeing this, I knew that it was about a modern guy fighting monsters, but had no idea that it was so bizarre. It follows, documentary-style the current 'Big Man Japan' whose job is largely irrelevant because most of the genuinely threatening monsters have been destroyed already. He is therefore left with only weak or bizarre monsters to fight, and his personal popularity is very low. We follow him at a low ebb, on the (very) lowest branches on the tree of celebrity (or 'celebri-tree' if you will): public resentment towards him (as a building damager and major use of electricity) is palpable, his agent is obviously stealing from him, and most of the rituals around his enlargement (including giant purple undies he grows into so he isn't naked) are shown to be useless. His life is unpleasant, and you can't help but feel for him, especially as he has his ass kicked by a giant red monster (which I think was either meant to represent North Korea or China), and people enjoy laughing at him. On this list not only because of the unusual plot, but the pitch-perfect recreation of a documentary following around a fool, and being applied to such a bizarre set of circumstances. My favourite monster: The screaming leg with a face on top of it. The ending is stupid, incidentally, but I think it may be the final thoughts of a dying man, or an allegory for American intervention in Japanese affairs.This takes precedence over a movie by the same guy, Symbol which is nuts, but not as genuinely bizarre as this.
Best Moment: His drive, on a scooter, up to the facility where he is enlarged, as we see the protests and slogans written against him. A joy.
Thoughts: I had heard good things about this, but couldn't help but feel that it was stupid, and either unnecessarily exploitative or a failed satire. It suggests a dystopian future, and has far too much unnecessary violence and stupidity (the dismembered body bits are done better in 'Suicide Club' which is itself pretty stupid). The premise to this, however, is the kind of thing written by a 14 year old boy. Not great, but it is held together by some really deranged moments, such as the incidental ads on TV, which we see selling wrist cutting razors, and swords to commit harakiri with, what a harsh future that will be!Other than that, the girl from Audition is far too skinny in this, her voyage in the underground is like a lesson in underweight posing, while some of the mutations have to be given credit for their imagination - such as the penis gun, the vaginagator, and at least some of the girls are pretty (before they are mutilated).
Best Moment: I suppose the cheering that the torso on a seat gets in the gimp club. Or, the vaginagator.
Thoughts: This is only short (half an hour or so) and, again, it's based on a cartoon by Nekojiru (thanks Wikipedia). It is remarkably dark, plays with a lot of fairy tales, and ends on a very pessimistic note. It's all tied together by a weird mix of religious imagery, folk stories and fairy tales, and some really innovative, dreamlike music and graphics: This is a really interesting use of half an hour. It's dialogue free, although speech bubbles hint at conversations. I imagine it would be hard to sympathise with the main character for some, but as an anthropomorphic cat, he would be expected to kill most animals he sees. Some stunning, insane animation too, and the lack of any explanation (who is the pig in their boat?) is also good. I liked this.
Bet Moment: The circus, or the water elephant, both of which lead to unnecessary deaths.
Thoughts: Another one based on a manga cartoon, and which is available in English, though I haven't read it, or really intend to. This is interesting, showing the fixation of a town, some brutal murders, and then some horrific spiral mutations. The best thing of all is that there is little if no explanation of why this is happening. A dark, horrible horror movie, but not without black humour and moments that make you go, 'naaa'.
Best Moment: Your fingerprints are spirals, so better cut them off. That or the man- snails.
Thoughts: This is a really bizarre, really alternative movie. It's done on the cheap, using a lots of stop motion, models and speeding up to enhance the action, but it belies its small budget. The beginning, in an industrial setting, with our hero dancing to heavy industrial music, is immensely cool. There is very little in the way of dialogue or explanations, and it probably could use them. It's a cult classic, violent, powerful and with some devastating imagery. It's interesting, but difficult to sit through.
Best Moment: Also memorable is his fight, and the sex scene, which is horrifying and arousing (I know).
Thoughts: This really is demented, not as violent of gross as most of the others on this list, but it really doesn't follow anything like a plot, or logical explanation. You might have seen some of the screenshots online (there's one on the beach which I'd seen before, and another of a guy, a girl, and a yellow thing all looking weirdly at the screen which is from the school scene), and the plot, such as it is, is largely an excuse to have fun. You can tell that the actor's think it's weird and are enjoying themselves, and that's something, unlike most of hte movies on this list, this is actually pretty funny. While there are bizarre sketches (one with a movie director dog is a real eye opener in a movie full of them), there are also multiple dance sequences, comedy gross bits, some light satire and some slapstick, as well as an interval. The result is the height of insanity, particularly as it's at least an hour too long.
Best Moment: A lot of it, though the fat white kid who hassles guitar brother is fun, and the little creatures which make for both the weirdest orchestra, and the weirdest badminton game ever. What's also great is the caliber of actors on show, some of whom are now making waves as Asian sidekicks in Hollywood movies.
So there you have it. Just for sake of reference, I originally wrote this list with only two Japanese movies, and 8 non Japanese ones. To tantalise you, I'll write up the non Japanese one before too long, Take care and fight to win.
Pascal.
P.S. Will add pictures tomorrow, but am busy tonight!
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8. Paprika [2006]
Yes Paprika is a bizarre, mind boggling movie, but I've already talked about it here, so I won't mention it again. That's my self-imposed rule. Nothing I've talked about before.As a reward, here's the theme tune. Good luck getting this out of your head.
7. Mindgame [2004]
Plot In One Sentence: Tonnes of shit happens in this movie, all with disparate visual style, including a whale, a comic writer, and some fighting. |
| Good poster, but not great. [source] |
Best Moment: the extended piece in the whale is good.
6. Big Man Japan [2007]
Plot In One Sentence: A mock-documentary following 'Big Man Japan', a regular man occasionally employed by the state to turn into a 100ft tall superhero and fight a variety of bizarre monsters. |
| Big Man Japan talks to a horny octopus monster. Cool. [source] |
Thoughts: Before seeing this, I knew that it was about a modern guy fighting monsters, but had no idea that it was so bizarre. It follows, documentary-style the current 'Big Man Japan' whose job is largely irrelevant because most of the genuinely threatening monsters have been destroyed already. He is therefore left with only weak or bizarre monsters to fight, and his personal popularity is very low. We follow him at a low ebb, on the (very) lowest branches on the tree of celebrity (or 'celebri-tree' if you will): public resentment towards him (as a building damager and major use of electricity) is palpable, his agent is obviously stealing from him, and most of the rituals around his enlargement (including giant purple undies he grows into so he isn't naked) are shown to be useless. His life is unpleasant, and you can't help but feel for him, especially as he has his ass kicked by a giant red monster (which I think was either meant to represent North Korea or China), and people enjoy laughing at him. On this list not only because of the unusual plot, but the pitch-perfect recreation of a documentary following around a fool, and being applied to such a bizarre set of circumstances. My favourite monster: The screaming leg with a face on top of it. The ending is stupid, incidentally, but I think it may be the final thoughts of a dying man, or an allegory for American intervention in Japanese affairs.This takes precedence over a movie by the same guy, Symbol which is nuts, but not as genuinely bizarre as this.
Best Moment: His drive, on a scooter, up to the facility where he is enlarged, as we see the protests and slogans written against him. A joy.
5. Tokyo Gore Police [2008]
Plot In One Sentence: A privatised police force reign with an iron fist and fight genetic mutants, which only the most elite cops (i.e the chick from Audition) can kill. |
| Now this is bizarre, a blonde Japanese woman. [source] |
Best Moment: I suppose the cheering that the torso on a seat gets in the gimp club. Or, the vaginagator.
4. Cat Soup [2001]
Plot In One Sentence: A hungry, anthropomorphic cat fights fate and various obstacles to help heal his brain damaged sister. |
| Water elephants are endangered because Chinese people grind up their water tusks for traditional medicine. [source] |
Thoughts: This is only short (half an hour or so) and, again, it's based on a cartoon by Nekojiru (thanks Wikipedia). It is remarkably dark, plays with a lot of fairy tales, and ends on a very pessimistic note. It's all tied together by a weird mix of religious imagery, folk stories and fairy tales, and some really innovative, dreamlike music and graphics: This is a really interesting use of half an hour. It's dialogue free, although speech bubbles hint at conversations. I imagine it would be hard to sympathise with the main character for some, but as an anthropomorphic cat, he would be expected to kill most animals he sees. Some stunning, insane animation too, and the lack of any explanation (who is the pig in their boat?) is also good. I liked this.
Bet Moment: The circus, or the water elephant, both of which lead to unnecessary deaths.
3. Uzimaki (Spiral) [2000]
Plot In One Sentence: A town becomes obsessed with vortexes and spirals, with disastrous results. |
| Yeah this is pretty gross. Luckily he survived. [source] |
Thoughts: Another one based on a manga cartoon, and which is available in English, though I haven't read it, or really intend to. This is interesting, showing the fixation of a town, some brutal murders, and then some horrific spiral mutations. The best thing of all is that there is little if no explanation of why this is happening. A dark, horrible horror movie, but not without black humour and moments that make you go, 'naaa'.
Best Moment: Your fingerprints are spirals, so better cut them off. That or the man- snails.
2. Tetsuo The Iron Man [1989]
Plot In One Sentence: A guy turns into a metal man, and meets his nemesis. |
| A scene from the metallic, black and white, freeze-framed love scene. Eat your heart out Wall-E. [source] |
Thoughts: This is a really bizarre, really alternative movie. It's done on the cheap, using a lots of stop motion, models and speeding up to enhance the action, but it belies its small budget. The beginning, in an industrial setting, with our hero dancing to heavy industrial music, is immensely cool. There is very little in the way of dialogue or explanations, and it probably could use them. It's a cult classic, violent, powerful and with some devastating imagery. It's interesting, but difficult to sit through.
Best Moment: Also memorable is his fight, and the sex scene, which is horrifying and arousing (I know).
1. Funky Forest [2005]
Plot In One Sentence: It's hard to say, but there are a number of sketches revolving around a possible (Piko-Riko) alien invasion, a singles picnic, and some dancing.  |
| Yeah, this happened. [source] |
Best Moment: A lot of it, though the fat white kid who hassles guitar brother is fun, and the little creatures which make for both the weirdest orchestra, and the weirdest badminton game ever. What's also great is the caliber of actors on show, some of whom are now making waves as Asian sidekicks in Hollywood movies.
So there you have it. Just for sake of reference, I originally wrote this list with only two Japanese movies, and 8 non Japanese ones. To tantalise you, I'll write up the non Japanese one before too long, Take care and fight to win.
Pascal.
P.S. Will add pictures tomorrow, but am busy tonight!
nl
tl
e
ucau
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