"A kindhearted paper puppet movie," the promotional material intones. It's certainly atypical: static, illustrated, cut-out puppets with various poses or expressions are held against the backdrop of real-life Kyoto, dialogue and sound effects are laid over top, and one can't help but think of low-budget fare produced for very young children on publicly funded television. Incidentally, further information about 'Taxi driver Gion Taro' is rather hard to come by (at least in English), and I gather only that this 2014 movie is in turn based on a radio play. My curiosity deepens. I admit I think the novelty is maybe even a tad off-putting at first. But in fairness, this only wants to provide some light entertainment, and as the minutes tick by it becomes quite easy to look past the simple, unusual presentation and see the value that the title actually boasts - for it is, I dare say, admirably strong when all is said and done!
There's something innately charming about this little flick and its outwardly unsophisticated appearance. It's possible that the writing may have been equally well served if not better by interpretation as a live-action film, but as this goes on, as is, I see the considerable cleverness in what Nagano Munenori created. Though never evoking major laughs, this is increasingly shows itself to be a splendidly creative comedy-drama with some surrealist and absurdist vibes as the titular character becomes infatuated with an actress, and manages to land a small part in a production in which she's involved, only for that production and their experiences overall to take delightfully strange, outrageous turns. I can see in my mind's eye how this would look with live actors, but Nagano's screenplay is so surprisingly bright that even the result here meets with unexpected success.
The small, weird story is more earnestly engaging and compelling than I'd have ever supposed sights unseen, and that it is twisted toward those unique flavors of situational humor makes it all the more joyful. Unique characters populate that narrative, with outlandish scene writing and keen dialogue to match. I'm reminded of the wit and unconventional storytelling seen in Ueda Shin'Ichiro's 'One cut of the dead,' or the offbeat vibes of Yamaguchi Junta's 'Beyond the infinite two minutes' and 'River'; were 'Taxi driver Gion Taro' indeed realized with real people and a bigger production, it would feel right at home in these filmmakers' oeuvres. And still it is most excellent under Nagano's guidance as direction as well, for the art style is endearing, the use of "props" and "effects" is kind of ingenious, and the superficially innocent appearance may arguably work in its favor in an underhanded fashion that wouldn't necessarily be true of an inherently more complex live-action rendition.
As we see in production stills over the end credits, it's sort of heartwarming and gratifying that in its own way this really is a snapshot of places in and around the Gion district of Kyoto. Ito Tadayuki's light original music quite lends to those feelings, too - and to my pleasure, the voice cast pulls a lot of weight even with a picture like this. Their expressive performances infuse real emotions, personality, and reactions into the characters, and to the same extent that the writing picks up and ultimately supersedes any observations about the unconventional look of the feature, the skill and sincerity in the voice acting contributes to that effect, too. Very honestly, I had severe doubts when I first pressed "play," and there was a moment in the back end where I wondered if this wasn't about to end weakly. I am so greatly pleased, however, that despite everything, Nagano in fact conjured a terrific comedy-drama that through to the very last seconds far exceeds its seeming childishness. There is fantastic imagination and intelligence in 'Taxi driver Gion Taro,' and the sum total is much, much more deserving than it seems at first blush. I can understand how it won't appeal to all comers, but for anyone who is open to all the wide possibilities of the medium, this is such a joy that I'd have no qualms in recommending it to just about anyone. As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover; I think this is one ride you'll be very glad you took!
