Shimotsuma monogatari

A completely enchanting and engrossing comedy-drama about two 17 year old girls, vastly different from each other (one a self-absorbed dreamer with a love for Rococco period fashion and behavior; the other a rebellious biker chick), who become friends and change each other's lives. The film makes the most of this simple plot line, and it's the compelling personalities of the characters, beautifully overplayed by Kyoko Fukada and Anna Tsuchiya, respectively. The film is told through a color-saturated visualization and stylish direction by Tetsuya Nakashima, who adopts a manic style not unlike that of Jean-Pierre Jeunet in AMELIA or Tom Twyker in RUN LOLA RUN, with jump-cut flashbacks, bizarre cut-aways and edits; the effervescent vitality of Nakashima's direction coupled with the performances of the lead and supporting cast really make this film a fascinating and repeatedly watchable experience. Also of note is a terrific score, which varies from J-Pop to American hard rock and punk, to classical (one fight scene is set to Strauss' Blue Danube) and really sets the film's aural tone and pacing; Yoko Kanno (MEMORIES, ESCALFLOWNE, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STANDALONE COMPLEX, and Nakashima's previous SUMMER TALE) is responsible for the underscore and several of the songs.

'Kamikaze Girls' is adapted from a comic book; it contains some short animated scenes, but in fact the entire movie is made in a comic-book style, even when it employs real actors, with exaggerated physics and characterisation. It's unlikely story pairs a girl who dresses in rococo outfits with a tough biker chick (the supporting cast includes a man with a four-foot quiff); for those who aren't Japanese, it may come as a shock to learn, however, that the boutique rococo retailer that features in the film is actually a piece of product placement - it really exists, and there's some popularity to this bizarre style of dress. The film zips along, and there are some nice humorous touches, although it never feels deeper than a comic. But the tone is right for the material - and it's infinitely preferable to countless Hollywood comic adaptations that futilely try to tell us there's something profound in the their stories.

This a well-done girls' coming-of-age tale, like a Japanese 21st-century Alice in Wonderland - one Lewis Carroll would probably have liked. And I presume whoever gave the Kamikaze Girls title to the American edition would have titled the Alice work Kamikaze Alice. The underlying themes are independent thinking, the value of friendship, and the need to pursue one's creative impulses while critically evaluating surrounding people and opportunities.

Most the adult figures in the film are - in one way or another - failures. Though seen in an exaggerated, humorous, or empathetic light, they serve as guideposts to the two girls who come to realize that salvation (or "sallvation" as Ichigo misspells it for emphasis) lies not in following the crowd, not in seeking leaders' approval, but in following one's own dreams - as much as they can be realized in this limited, 3-dimensional, mortal world.

Early in the film, I feared it was headed to be too sweet, especially with the main characters being Momoko (Peaches) and Ichigo (Strawberries). But this sweetness is quickly counterbalanced with the challenges and adventures they face.

This is a fun and very unique film, good for people of all ages. In ways, it's set in a society that seems closer to the U.S. of the 1950's - around the "beat" and the James Dean eras, when youth could be wild without police being called, and yet neighborhoods could leave front doors unlocked without fear and kids could even hitch-hike - an age of greater homogeneity when America had some cultural unity and - with exception of its black-white scar - was not afraid of itself.

I obtained this film, by the way, in VCD format (not the best, but adequate), I believe, from HKFlix. I couldn't find it anywhere in DVD format.

Teens are cinematic, both ways. They take their identities from the patterns they see. So it is very easy to show or reference those identities in film. Plus, kids think in simple arcs, and that helps the mapping of image to idea. Its almost too easy to make a movie that is about how kids hew to stylistic exclusivity and ironically make the film obsessed with the very same stylishness.

That's what this one is. This time around it is teen girls, and we're given the two poles: one girl is a frilly girlie candypop and the other is a spitting, scowling James Dean derivative in a "motorcycle" gang. Both are fantastic exaggerations and that exaggeration is most of the fun.

The story is all about the stories these girls tell themselves, and incidentally to each other. At the end, we get a rather nicely wrapped bit about explicit fiction. Along the way, we get three stories about clothes, symbols on clothes and validity. The world we see is as magically abstract as their fantasies of it.

What's rather interesting here is how sex is excluded, exorcised from the equation. Oh, its referenced and bound with love, but only as the escape from style. The second act is weak. Stick with it.

To enhance the experience, I saw this with a DVD of a Suicide Girls "Tour." This business about the hardening of femininity is pretty profound.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Watched this gem of a film just a week before xmas 2004,,,and mighty glad I did,,as apart from maybe Eternal Sunshine and 2046 nothing really as stood out in 2004 for me.

I'm not saying this film's perfect it does go way too dreamy and slips a lot into teen angst a little too much,but for a hugely entertaining wild ride you gotta see it as nothing for along time comes close to this on the fun scale.

Included are show stopping camera angles/tricks and odd moments of surreal nonsense all wrapped around story of a pair of female teens (Kyôko Fukada & Anna Tsuchiya who both look and act awesome) finding their own individual identities,add some great gags on modern life's consumerism and you've got a sure fire cult maybe even worldwide hit on your hands.I can hear teen girls ripping their posters of N-Sync and Westlife down from their walls and putting up Momoko & Ichigo one's.All in all hugely recommend to fans of Japanese culture i'd give this a super fun 8 maybe adding an half for the fun anime sections...