Rubber's Lover

Fukui Shozin's previous film, '964 Pinocchio,' was a terrific, wild ride. Low-budget but full of high energy and earnest hard work, it was better than I could have hoped in its blend of cyberpunk science fiction and horror. With the promise of a like-minded underground production, a kindred premise of dangerous unsanctioned experimentation and madness, and plentiful blood, gore, and effects, I had high expectations of 1996 follow-up 'Rubber's lover' - and I've not been disappointed. Actually, to some degree I think it's a step up as Fukui has honed his skills in the intervening few years; there's no mistaking that this is broadly kith and kin with the previous effort, but it demonstrates certain artistic sensibilities that makes it all the more enticing. I think this is fantastic!

The choice to film in black and white confers a sense of style upon the proceedings while definitely making the gnarly violence and imagery herein all the more stark, ugly, and impactful. And in every regard there's a lot here for our eyes to feast upon. Marvelously smart use of lighting and bold emphasis of shadow make all the more fetching the simple but effective production design design, art direction, props, and costume design clearly assembled with shrewd creativity from whatever Fukui and his collaborators could cobble together; Fukui's striking shot composition, visualizing all the superb details in this filming space in a fashion that makes them feel disproportionately more grandiose and alien; the violence, vivid practical effects, and special makeup, perhaps relatively sparing but indisputably jarring and rich; and even the acting, which is uniformly spirited, committed, and downright vibrant. It's a small cast on hand, but between Nao, Saito Sosuke, Kawase Yota, Kunihiro Mika, and the scant few others involved, all are so good that one doesn't stand out above the others - all the more important since the intensity of the performances do just as much heavy lifting as the effects, if not more so, to bring the twisted tableau to bear.

In fact, the latter verbiage applies to not just the acting, but the cinematography, and the editing. Through Fukui's direction and his vision every element has a part to play in realizing the darkly entertaining saga, all being roundly active, dynamic, and thoughtfully employed. This is to say nothing of the robust sound design by which all audio rings out loud and clear, and not least the phenomenal original music of Tetora Tanizaki. Sound effects bleed into the score and vice versa, weaving a versatile, mesmerizing tapestry of soundscapes varying from whimsical to sinister, clamorous industrial beats, and other themes that are more melodic but no less haunting. There's no doubt in my mind that Tetora's contribution counts among the top highlights in this picture - so outstanding that as to be the sort of music I'd want to add to my personal collection - but for as brilliant as most every odd and end is, distinguishing between the respective quality of this and that seems kind of silly. It's worth noting that all these aspects are arguably much more integral to the viewing experience than the writing. Fukui's screenplay provides the foundation, yes, but the acting, the music, every facet of the visuals, and the underlying craftsmanship are all intoxicating, and the story is but a vehicle for these. All things considered, I could scarcely be happier with what the filmmaker put together.

I'll grant that the storytelling is surely the one place where the feature is less sure-footed. The narrative is generally amorphous and comparatively light in terms of material, and the tone and pacing vary; in the last act the proceedings become far more abstruse and fanciful, breaking from the more straightforward tack adopted in the first two-thirds. This isn't an especially severe criticism and in some manner it's in keeping with the nature of the movie at large, but it's the one place in these ninety minutes that may be a stumbling point for some viewers. And still, even at that, the flick is so imaginative, and so capably executed, that the distinction doesn't seem all that significant; the runtime speeds by all too quickly. There's no denying the skill and intelligence that went into 'Rubber's lover,' and for as peculiar or downright nasty as it might get, it's deeply absorbing and highly satisfying from start to finish. This is a title for those who are receptive to all the wide, wacky possibilities of genre fare, but if you're ready to engage with whatever comes your way, 'Rubber's lover' is a fabulously enjoyable, tantalizing film, and I'm pleased to give it my very high recommendation.

If Rubber's Lover was meant to be understood and fully appreciated, It fell short. I was intrigued by the camera angles, technological props, and trying to find the storyline. This cyberpunk, art house, music video type spectacle, tired me out and seemed a lot longer than the posted 91 minutes. After considerable attempts to understand this movie, I surrendered. If I was at the theater, I would have left early. This movie brings up memories of David Lynch's Eraserhead and Croenenberg's Scanners. If this was a film school assignment in which the assignment was to make the weirdest movie you can think up, this was probably the winner. Not my thing, maybe yours.

Look, while there's a lot that could be said about the content of this film, all I'll say is that it was surprising to find it uploaded on YouTube, even if the upload was age-restricted.

I was lucky to even find the time today to watch something feature-length, but I was unlucky that the film I picked was Rubber's Lover. It had been on my watchlist for ages, and it was directed by the filmmaker who did 964 Pinocchio (Shozin Fukui), which is a divisive and confronting film that I ended up appreciating more than I anticipated. I might even feel like calling that one a good movie, in some ways.

I can appreciate Rubber's Lover a little, but not nearly as much. It's stripped down and low-budget as a horror movie, and tries to work within its limitations. To some extent, it works, because I think it kind of sets out what it wanted to do. I more feel that what it wanted to do wasn't enough for something that was an hour and a half long; that or it did actually have loftier aspirations that weren't well explored or communicated.

Option B or C or whatever is, of course, that I'm a dummy, but I think Rubber's Lover was actually a bit dumb instead. I can't muster up hate when it's got the kind of atmosphere it does, and when some of the gross moments are effectively gross, but it all felt a little meandering and maybe even just the tiniest bit lazy, at the end of the day.

This is another one in a long line of typical Japanese black-and-white film-student-project-gone-wrong pretentious wannabe-deep-but-it's-not pseudo-surrealistic piece of crap masquerading as "disturbing horror." A never-ending bout of morons screaming for no reason and just "freaking out" is what you are in for with this film.

Of course, any movie like this will attract countless reviews speaking of how "briliant" the director is, how "disturbing" the film's "message" was (bwhahaha!) and a long string of steamy nuggets of self-delusional insight, but what it comes down to is this: low budget black and white boring inanity with lots of stupid screaming that will bore you to the verge of tears.

If you're looking for an actual movie with plot that will entertain you, this is not it.

Scientists use a brain-altering drug to conduct experiments, after one such project goes astray, they need to find another test subject in this Japanese splatter-punk film. On it's surface Rubber's Lover can be compared to Tetsuo: the Iron Man (shot in black and white, weird, kinetic, and machine driven), but it's different enough to stand on it's own merits, even if it's not nearly as good as the aforementioned film. Good for a viewing or two, but it's not one of the films that you'll return to over and over again. Still for an obviously low-budget film it IS entertaining.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: "Gerorisuto" short film; Interview with Shozin Fukui; Photo gallery; Theatrical Trailer; Trailers for "Electric Dragon 80000V", and "Junk"