Charisma

I absolutely loved this film. I saw it in Rome as a part of a Japanese Film Festival at the Japanese Consulate? or Cultural center? and it has now become one of, if not my favorite, Japanese films I've ever seen (and I've seen quite a few). So strange, very difficult to follow but all the same very interesting and engaging. It was shot well and at times I remember it being pretty intense. The story revolves around a Tree and those people around it who want the tree (Added to the confusion of the plot, I saw it a couple years ago, so my memory fails me). I have not seen any of Kiyoshi Kurasawa's other films but I'm going to try. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes Japanese films and the discussions that follow watching them. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this, or see it again please let me know. I would love a copy of this one.

I started watching this film without knowing much about it... and after the final frame.. I can honestly say I still do not know much about it. I've read some of the other comments about this movie from other viewers and each made some interesting comments and observations.

There were surreal elements as well as a very peculiar (and original) premise for a plotline but there's no need for me to re-summarize what's already been said. The pace was too slow IMO and several times I thought it was about to end when another 5 or 10 minutes were tacked on. There were a few shocks and surprises along the way but the sheer length of the movie and it's ambiguous ending renders it hard for me to recommend.

As someone else stated, it does make you think and that is probably what all good films hope to achieve. One would just hope for a clearer thoughtscape to ponder on.

Charisma shows another side of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's talent. The forest contrasts deeply with the industrial environment of License to Live, yet Charisma's symbolic analysis of the Japanese society's fears and latent insanity is much more acute. This movie is also one of the few which show the collapse of both individuals and society so intimately. It takes even more sense in the perspective of the Millennium Fear, even if this theme is not explicitly named in the movie. All in all, Charisma is certainly a movie to discover.

Although Charisma was not my favourite movie at the Rotterdam filmfestival, I liked this new movie from Kurosawa Kiyoshi, because of it's neutral message. It shows various sides of the same story without ever judging. It's up to the viewer to decide what he/she gets out of it. At the same it's never really clear what the plot's about. There are some opinions (battle, nature vs man), but i believe there were several. And again, the viewer can pick up what moved him/her watching this film. To me that is a true accomplishment.

This is one of the strangest, complex films I've ever seen. When you read the synopsis, you'll probably realise that the writer and director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, is working on many different levels, and you'll equally stay involved with the story due to the outstanding visuals. Kurosawa's camera work is typically brilliant, allowing the viewer to escape into the mysterious rural Japanese landscape.

Part philosophical drama, part social study, part ecological investigation, part surrealistic, Kafkaesque black comedy, Kurosawa has clearly crafted a film that demands repeated viewings. My first viewing was focused on the ecological themes present throughout the film; the whole idea of man's control over nature, without realising that nature doesn't reason. It just is. Applying Spinozan logic, nature is the infinite essence of the universe and doesn't need controlling. Nature doesn't act out of emotion and reason; it is perfect and simply is. There's just so much more thematic material open to interpretation so it's hard to place one specific genre to the film, but Kurosawa skillfully builds up disturbing dramatic moments with his trademark perfect camera work, boasting stellar cinematography of the Japanese landscape.

The film might not be my favourite, but 'Charisma' is certainly up there as one of Kurosawa's best films. If you're interested in strange but nonetheless interesting examinations of reality, then be sure to check this one out.