Homunculus

I saw this in the Commin soon section on Netflix and the synopsis was interresting enough so I went and read the manga first. I came back to this movie today and not gonna lie - I am dissapointed. Im not that kind of person who always says manga is better but in this case its like two completely different stories. Unfortunatelly this movie doesnt do the manga justice at all and even if Im judging it as a movie of its own, its just OK in my opinion.

First, this story would be better told in a series - I feel we needed more time to spend with the characters to learn about their inner motivation. The movie is almost 2 hours long and still it feels like its rushed. At the same time, some scenes are really dragging. I like slow-paced movies but in this case the long scenes didnt add anything to the movie itself.

I like the atmosphere, the visual effects (I was really sceptical about the CGI but it was Ok - still I think it would be better translated in animated medium) and the actors for the most part. The music was just not captivating enough, some scenes would benefit from more suspenseful, more haunting score.

Now lets talk about the changes in the story and characters. I understand that making creative changes in the story is neccesary and many times its for the better. I always welcome this creative aproach from directors and even if I sometimes prefer the original, I can still appreciate it. In the case of this movie, I cant say that. Im going to be honest, I didnt like any of it. It was all so rushed I didnt conect to any of the characters so I just ended up not carring about them. The explanations of their homonculi were rushed, shallow and the connection between them and the main character wasnt established good enough. But what was the most dissapointing for me personally was Manabu Ito. I loooved this character in manga. They were mysterious and enchanting, you werent sure what to expect of them. Were they just a curious young medic or was there something more behind their experiment? Did they perform the trepanation or did they just manipulate Nakoshi? Were they even a real person or just Nakoshi´s imagination? And when you learn why was their homonculus the way it was, you felt heartbroken. It all made sense. You get nothing like that in this movie. Here, he´s just a weirdo with too much free time on his hands. The ending of his arc in the movie is unsatisfying and tbh it didnt really make sense to me (maybe I missed something?).

The ending as whole is just a mess. Even if I dont compare it with the manga, its still just....meh?

I have so much more to say but its a bit hard for me to explain myself in english so Im just going to end it here. I dont regret watching it but I probably wouldnt recomend it to my friends.

Please, read the manga, its so good.

This Japanese film, based on a manga of the same name, is centred on Susumu Nakoshi. He is a thirty four year old amnesiac for appears to have plenty of money despite living in his small car near a homeless community. One day he is approached by a strange man with an even stranger proposal. He says that he will give Nakoshi ¥700,000 to take part in a medical experiment. He believes that by drilling a small home in his skull he will be able to unleash the brain's true power. He is initially rejected but eventually Nakoshi accepts. Soon afterwards he starts having disturbing visions. He sees homunculi, alternate versions of the person he is looking at that give him an insight into the events in their life that have been traumatic and repressed. Some of these insights prove disturbing for all involved.

It isn't surprising that this film is quite disturbing and more than a little twisted at times; the original manga was created by the man who created 'Ichi the Killer'. That said this is nowhere near as disturbing or violent as that film. The story is interesting and provides a few good twists. It is shot in a fairly matter of fact way that gives it a suitably drab feel that matches Nakoshi's lack of emotion. The acting is solid and the special effects, which aren't over-used, are really good. Some of the material means it won't be for everybody but if you enjoy subtitled horror, or understand Japanese, I'd recommend giving it a go.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

Something must have been lost in translation, surely, as most of the characters in this film react in a way that is inconsistent to what people would do in a Western culture. You have a homeless person who acts all high and mighty when someone proposes shifty things for money, a medical student who is so annoying and arrogant yet no one kicks his ass, two women who just submit themselves when faced with minimal physical restraining and all kinds of extreme reactions to simple words uttered randomly by other people. One girl is practically raped as therapy (now you understand where the term comes from), then wound sucking and blood kissing followed.

The story itself combines the concept of homunculus with Jungian psychology, dodgy medical experiments that make no sense and parapsychology, but doesn't go anywhere.

There some interesting things in the plot, though. The idea that one particular trauma, that we probably don't (or won't) even remember defines so much of our persona that just nibbling away at it would unravel a person. They could have gone with that a lot, but instead the film wastes too much on exposition, then hurries over the interesting part, then ends in a convoluted and pointless ending. I understand it's an adaptation from a manga, but there is no rule that forces following it exactly.

Bottom line: a weird concept with some interesting details, but a poor cinematic implementation and I can only assume some bad translation as well.

As others have mentioned, this new effort from JU-ON director Takashi Shimizu starts off on a very strong and original footing that reminded me more than a little of the cult classic R100. I do love the way that fantastical elements are brought into play to depict abstract concepts and the psychological background of trauma and the like is absolutely fascinating. Love the creative scenes too, like the Yakuza set-piece. Sadly this loses its way in the second half and becomes smaller scaled and long-winded; half an hour off would have helped that. But the ending is pretty decent and the acting great.

Definitely not a movie for everyone unless you are interested in psychology and the outcome of a personal trauma.

The movie is well acted as much very complicated, the characters reveal themselves along as you are able to understand them.

It takes a lot of attention, and every detail count; my advice is.. Watch it.. Only if you are ready for a puzzled full mind fantasy movie.