Tomie

I really enjoy this film. I've watched it twice - trying desperately to figure out what the hell happened at the end, but to no avail. Strangely though, I still find myself in love with it. I think it had has a great deal to do with Miho Kanno's performance. And also the mood. And that's what it is: a mood movie. I can excuse the plot. I think I'd rather be confused by a plot than have a badly filmed, acted and directed movie. It's kind of artsy to me. If you're looking for a horror movie that makes perfect sense, and will make you say, 'wow, that's clever!' go home. But if you're in a strange mood, and it needs feedin', go for it!

A slow-burning supernatural drama that's nothing like RING or THE GRUDGE for once. Instead, TOMIE is a comic-book adaptation about an otherwise ordinary schoolgirl who has one special talent: she always, without fail, comes back from the dead.

TOMIE is a weird movie. It's slow-moving and subtle for the most part, and the sometimes disjointed storyline never really visits many places. Horrifying it isn't. On the other hand, it's undoubtedly an atmospheric film full of off-kilter scenes and eerie moments (most of these involving a guy who finds himself 'growing' a new friend).

It's difficult to fault the efforts of cast and crew, and the highlight is the wonderfully weird piece of music that accompanies the titles in which a distorted, computerised voice proclaims an obsessive friendship. Many sequels, of varying quality, followed.

In my neverending quest to find new horror, Asia is where the current wealth seems to lie. But Tomie is one of the few I've seen that is rather worthless. It was boring and it had no payoff whatsoever. I hate it when I've been watching a film for an hour and 20 minutes and then nothing comes together in that last 10 or 15 minutes. It just didn't make any attempt to make sense in the very end. That's what kills me. The idea itself and the beginning of the film were very intriguing. It just completely falls apart in that final reel and I can't forgive it for that. The main thing I will remember about this flick is the incredibly eerie score. I really can't believe there are five of these films already. I guess Tomie really will not die.

From the opening credits, I was hooked. There's a strange static and distorted voice over the black screen with simple white titles. Then we're taken to a noisy city street where a young man is digging through a white paper bag. Within a few seconds, what should be horrifying segues into one of the most beautiful moments of stillness I have ever seen in a film, Asian or otherwise. The music is at once haunting and peaceful. It's like those moments in a Miyazaki film that are so peaceful, with a tinge of Dario Argento's Goblin soundtrack.

It is very hard to find a decent review of this movie. The one positive review I found gave away the entire plot. It's one of those movies that is so metaphor-laden, it makes absolutely no sense if you just watch the images and hear the sounds. Still pretty amazing, but I don't think it would keep someone's attention if they weren't thinking while viewing. There is a lot more going on here than just a few murders.

Like many (too many?) Japanese movies, there is a lot left unsaid. Characters with strange quirks are introduced, and it never explains why they have those quirks. Transitions from one scene to the next sometimes feel awkward. It sometimes feels like you're reading a book by a first-time author, as it is not clear why some scenes are even included. This is not a polished high-quality cinematography type film either...not up to the standards of Ringu or Dark Water. It lies somewhere between the blockbusters and Evil Dead Trap.

Even as I make those criticisms, I could only bring myself to take one smoke break. As much as Tomie may look like Sadako (and every other female ghost), this is a truly engaging film that still has me thinking 24 hours after viewing it.

Hmm. I mean, aesthetically, it's pretty great. It looks good for something that's going for a grounded and low-key sort of visual thing. It's not quite digital horror, but it scratches the same sort of itch that other Japanese horror films from around this time definable as such do.

I also watched it right after a movie where the music was the worst part (The Place Promised in Our Early Days), so it's nice that the best part of Tomie was the music. I'd almost be surprised if the main theme didn't inspire the title track from Radiohead's Kid A; that song sounds so similar, and came out after this movie.

Unfortunately, it's also a mess narratively. I wasn't a huge fan of Junji Ito's Spiral when I read it last year, and Tomie gives me the impression his stuff is inferior still in the format of a film.