964 Pinocchio

Wow this was one weird movie. I have never in my life seen anything like this. This is not the Disney Pinocchio we all grew up watching. This movie is so messed up you won't believe it. Pinocchio is a lobotomized cyborg sex slave, and is thrown out onto the street by his owners. Pinocchio meets up with this homeless girl named Himiko. Then Pinocchio's creator sends out his men to get rid of Pinocchio. This is one really strange movie though. It's pretty low budget, but in a good way. I liked all the weird camera angles too. I think the best part was when Pinocchio ran down the streets screaming. That was just weird and freaky! I bet all those people were freaked out when they saw this thing running. Did I mention the ending is also weird as heck. If you're looking for a weird movie to watch, then you'll enjoy Pinocchio 964. There's nothing out there quite like this. 9/10 from me.

Firstly, we must address that this film is an art film. It thrives on visuals to tell the story. The explicitness of the visual effects are well executed for the sake of uncomfortableness and serves as a catalyst to keep the viewer interested, although it does not necessarily rely completely on visuals. The story itself holds a certain theme which comments on humans being just commodities. Sexual slavery does exist, however, in this particular film, the idea of sexual slavery has been taken to the extreme. Secondly, some underlying philosophy that this film holds, is that in order to experience peace with oneself, one must go through unbearable physical change. In a way, Kafka had his hand in this, think Metamorphosis, except incredibly painful and agonizing. Being a Japanese, underground, cult film, it is not appreciated everywhere, and is not expected to be. Director Shojin Fukui should proud of himself to have done such a controversial yet appealing film.

I saw this movie at Best Buy, and remembered it being an unearthed films release. I still wasn't going to buy it until I flipped it over and saw a picture of a white faced, bleeding from the mouth, freak running down the streets with a few thousand confused people looking on. Knowing that those people weren't extras, I had to buy this movie.

This movie is pure insanity. At first It looks like it might be somewhat normal, everything makes sense, it seems almost cute...almost...Suddenly the whole movie takes a turn for the "worst" and all that wholesomeness we just witnessed turns into something completely opposite. A lot of people compare this movie to Tetsuo for some reason, which is like comparing apples to oranges, but that being said, 964 Pinocchio will make you appreciate Tetsuos coherent storyline. As insane as that may sound.

I don't want to mention, nor could I fully explain the plot, because that would ruin most of this movie. if your sick of your everyday Hollywood remakes and want a totally new experience, and like a bit of wackiness mixed in with your bizarre freak out films, than you will love this unique movie.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaatttttaaaaaaaabbbbaaannnaaaa - Weird - Aaaaaafffffaaaaaaaggggaaaahhaaaggaaaggggggggaaaaaaaaafffffaaaggg - Vomit - Aaaaaagggaaaafffffaaahhhhhaayyyaaaaabbbaaaabbbbbnnnnaaaahhhaaq - Japan - Aaaaaggggaahhhaahhhajjajjajajaaaahhhhhhhhhaaagggggggggggggggggg - Cyberpunk - Aaaaaaggggaahhhaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhttttttttttaaaaaaagggggaaaafffffaaa - Crazy Japan -

It's not exactly an adaptation of Carlo Collodi's short story, but rather a dark movie that uses the character of Pinocchio as a model in terms of creating an artificial being that tries to be as similar as possible to a human being. The budget is clearly very limited, so this is a Z movie, but the concept leaves everything up to the viewer's imagination. Shozin Fukui's intention was to tell a terrifying Cyberpunk story about a world with androids so highly developed that they resemble human beings, but with a disturbing side. The film is full of very crazy and grotesque scenes that seek to disturb the viewer. Long planes and assembly that may be boring. Very exaggerated performances that make the actors look like cartoon characters, also adding crazy sequences. The editing, direction and editing are responsible for increasing the power of the images, making watching this film a bizarre hallucinogenic trip. Many moments in this movie are so crazy they can be pointless, especially when Himiko descends into madness. This is a hellish journey that comes to dislike those who see it and that makes it both a peculiar and disturbing piece of Japanese cinema. My final rating for this movie is 6/10.