Riaru onigokko

This movie has a very promising premise, but fell short of my expectation. As a horror, it is not at all scary, leaving no fear in the aftertaste. As a psychological thriller, it lacks suspense and a logical plot development as well as world building. As a moral lesson, it could have done much better with more subtlety. The only thing I like about it is the aforementioned opening scene and the wedding scene where tension is built up quite well. A very ambitious hot pot, but not at all tasty.

I never would have seen this movie or known of it's existence without my kids. My daughter showed me a clip from the first 10 minutes, and I was hooked, because I had to know what was going on. From then on, it was silly and juvenile but every now and then very unexpected things would happen. I'm not sure if this is deemed a horror or sci-fi, but the Japanese film industry sure is different, and occasional worth diving into. I'm glad I watched it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

This movie is hard to explain and also hard to watch. You could make a strong case for it being very incoherent, but you could also argue the opposite. And it's not that one or the other would be right overall. What you can say about this, is that it completely messes with your head (avoiding other words here,to keep it family friendly).

But the completely over the top and also very violent content will either appeal or appall you as a viewer. The very weird story, that I couldn't really explain even if I tried to, has the same thing going for or against it, depending on your point of view. If you want and can wrap your head around things happening (you can't just watch it and do other stuff, the movie needs your overall, full and undivided attention), then you will be entertained - if you are into that sort of strange storytelling that is

Tag is a difficult movie to rate. The soundtrack is beautiful, the CGI is...shall we say, it could use improvement? The acting to me is good, but I can see if some consider it "over the top".

It's a very Japanese movie with Japanese humour, so many Western people might not understand it or frown upon it.

It's also a very "Sono" movie. Sion Sono (I think as far as I remember, he comes from the pinka aiga genre and his wife is a former JAV star) made many movies about patriarchy and the whole "men vs women" thing. Love Exposure, Cold Fish, Guilty of Romance...all with pretty despicable male characters and often with the empowerment of women.

Tag makes it clear early on that it's a very female movie. Up until the final part, there isn't a single male character (if we don't count a literal "pig") in the film. Then, as we cross into the "real" world, we see nothing but male characters (and not in a flattering light).

I see Tag as a metaphor. Men control women, they oversexualize them (if you watch closely, all the school girls seem to be clearly older than regular school girls) and show them as objects. So we can see the final scene as a freeing of male shackles, aimed at (Japanese) women?

With an opening sequence that tops 'Suicide Club" in shock value, aesthetics and eeriness, "Tag" targets a gore-hungry audience, but goes deeper with the many philosophical and psychological themes of determinism, power, fear, reality and identity.

"Tag" tackles greater issues than most films and does so well with a brisk pace that takes the viewer along the joyride (or hellride depending on how you see it) and makes him/her identify with the lead character's distress. The three leads who play the same persona are very well cast and effective in edging us into our seats. Their acting is grounded while the rest of the movie is often over the top at parts.

The daring premise, edgy editing, themes and tones are strong, yet Sono falls slightly short of his best work by making a clearly uneven piece at times with some easy thrills and instances with little coherence or content sneaking in. He proves showy, self-indulgent, eager to please the crowd and even uses questionable short-cuts instead of going deeper into the surreal, suspenseful and sublime narrative.

We are left with many questions like many of Sono's films, but in this case, we also understand that perhaps he could have asked himself more questions in the making in order to overcome some unwanted extraneous confusion and loss of focus. This is especially troublesome as it clocks less than 90 mins (uncharacteristic for long-winded Sono - see 237 mins "Love Exposure" as extreme example) and still shows some filler farce instead of sure hit fire-power.

Some superficial moments over subtlety and substance holds this film back, but the brute force and fantastic screen-writing and directing defy denying this fresh film its place into the pantheon of path-breaking provocative piece of cinema.

Despite its minor and more blatant flaws, this film holds well to a metaphorical mirror and is not in search of identity like its main character. It is disconnected beyond its useful purpose, but parades around arguably able to arouse sympathy and separately speak volume on our psychological individual and societal brink of breakdown.

Try to be spontaneous. Accept the surreal and tolerate the slapstick and silliness.

Japan 2015 | 85 mins | FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | DCP | Japanese (English subtitles)