964 Pinocchio

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.

Having loved Rubber's Lover, I felt psyched to see this. It starts off strong with some stunning graphics and the same over-the-top performances I loved from Rubber's Lover. The respect I have for the actors' dedication and focus goes well beyond enormous. I loved the slow, lyrical pace of the first third where Himako finds Pinocchio. The chemistry and trust between the two actors brought it unexpected depth.

And then the vomiting started.

And went on pointlessly for at least five minutes.

I accept this in Hershel Gordon Lewis films since he needed to pad them out to a certain length and contained endless tracking shots of a woman walking or someone's band playing a cheesy song. But with a running time of 1:37 extended scenes of vomiting or running or just general strobe-lit screaming makes me cranky. All the camera work and editing in the world can't make me say "WOW! That's the best 10 minute running sequence I've ever seen!".

Given the gravitas it began with, I felt cheated at the end. I suffered thought the last 30min hoping for a redemption that never came. Given the choice between Places in the Heart or a Marvel franchise film, I'd choose this every time. But I wouldn't be happy about it.

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.

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

I'm a big fan of weird, bizarre, underground films and when I heard about 964 Pinocchio I watched it immediately. The theme of robots used for sex isn't often used in movies, or even books or comics. So I was quite excited about the film.

As I said, the plot is original and keeps you hooked. For the first 30 minutes. Then it gets too strange and bizarre. Don't get me wrong, I like weird, when it has a point. This is weird just for the sake of being weird, without any purpose. And the vomiting and the gore is there just to shock and disgust you.

The cinematography is very good and original with a variety of different styles and excellent shots. The acting is good, although it's Japanese with their classical overacting. This could be a problem to some viewers but I didn't mind it. It gave the movie a goofy, but also a very disturbing feel. There isn't much dialogue, but there is a lot of screaming. So much screaming that it gets annoying after a while. The environment is beautifully disgusting, though I wouldn't say it's cyberpunky. The special effects and the stop-motion are very good and add to the dark atmosphere.

The biggest problem of the film is that it has an original idea but it looks like the director didn't know how to deepen it, how to make it all come together. There isn't any connection between the characters motives and their actions and in the end, the movie seems quite pointless. It starts good, but later drifts into gory, weird and unnecessary nonsense. The theme offered a lot of space for social commentary and an interesting plot line. Also, the film could be shorter. The running scene is way too long and is a rip-off of Tetsuo(which is way better in my opinion).

Despite it's major flaws it still is an original and fascinating movie, got me interested into another of Fukui's works: Rubber's Lover. If you want weird and experimental, I'd recommend Tetsuo: Iron Man or Eraserhead. Those two are waaaaaaaaaaay better then this.