Japanese Take Out

This past weekend I attended the Tenth Annual Wisconsin Film Festival. I watched 12 films in four days... not bad. Normally, I might have taken a bit of time off work to allow myself to rest/breathe/eat/care for pets... you know, those unnecessary things that I like to indulge in. Unfortunately, as the film festival fell at the end of the second week of my new job, I did not feel it entirely wise to request the time off. I am, therefore, very tired. But enough of that...

I shall, this week, report out on all the films that I watched. For tonight, I only wish to mention the one that has - unexpectedly - been very much on my mind all day. It was a film that I saw the very first night of the film festival, titled Big Man Japan.

The movie was - true to its asian roots - bizarre. [Bit of a background: I purchased my tickets the very day that they went on sale, which was nearly a month ago, and a few days later departed for Europe. Upon my return to the country, I immediately started a new job. My mind, as you might imagine, has been on topics not related to the film festival, and I did not review any of the film descriptions prior to attending the festival. This made for an even more interesting experience.] As the movie began, it had the distinct feel of a documentary.

Hmmm, I thought to myself.... I could have SWORN this was a feature film. Odd.

The film continued to unroll, and I began to feel quite sorry for the central character. I was not certain of what his job was (there were many odd references and allusions to "the job" and "work calling") but he was clearly not supported by the community. Just as I began to consider contacting human rights organizations, the film took a surprising turn. The man - whose name escapes me - was called in to work. He promptly zipped over to the local power plant, where he was juiced up with electricity and inflated to gigantor proportions. He put the Incredible Hulk to shame - particularly with his fabulous Don King-inspired hairdo.

Ah... I thought, feeling a sense of recognition as the Asian film elements began to fall into place. It got much, much better. The central character ended up - throughout the film - battling an astounding array of Japanese monsters. These were fabulous and creative creatres that had the most INTERESTING features. There was, for example, the "stink" monster, and the "rubber band" monster, and all SORTS of other impressive monsters. They each possessed horrifying features that one would never find in American cinema. One - for example - was essentially a (very realistic) human face bouncing about on a lean and muscular leg, which ended in a clawed foot. Most impressive. I was quite taken with the creativity, and the insane nature of it all tickled me no end.

There is something about the juxtaposition of the serious, documentary-feel of the film contrasted with the insanity and grotesque nature of the monsters that appear throughout the story. This wasn't the best film that I saw - in fact, it was far from it. I'm relatively certain that it's not even the film that I will - eventually - put the most thought into. It is, however, the film that I am working through first, and there must be reason for that. I think that I know what it is:

In many ways, this film is one of the best depictions of real life that I have seen for a very long time.

For more information (but not very much of it) visit:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997147/