Organ

I just watched this movie last night, and I didn't understand it until I read the Mondo Macabro entry on it by Pete Tombs, and some of the reviews here (evidently, I'm not alone in thinking this film loses power by sacrificing narrative clarity for thematic integrity). The fact that the film is low budget and shot in 16mm (somewhat grainy; it would be great to see a Blu-Ray version with better subtitles) adds to the viewer's frustration. Still, Kei Fujiwara has undoubtedly created a nightmarish alternate universe and managed to get it on film which is at least worth five stars.

Organ is really more of an avant garde art film than straight horror, but then again, if you watch a lot of Japanese horror, you've probably noticed that this island culture takes the genre more seriously than in the west (which tends to see it as a more exploitive, money-making, freshman-director type genre). I can't say I enjoyed watching Organ much, but I do respect the director's unflinching vision and daring in bringing such a brutally dark tale to fruition.

After reading how violent this film was and that it had been banned even in Japan, I must admit I was excited about seeing it. After watching it multiple times, I still can't get much plot out of it. I got more from reading the back of the case than from the movie... As for the supposed over-the-top gore, I wasn't impressed. The effects are straight out of a Henenlotter or HG Lewis flick and there are more greens and yellows than red. I saw nothing so offensive that it would need to be censored. Visually, the film was interesting, with very vibrant colors. Is it violent and perverse? Yes. Is it as bloody as it's billing? No. I think it was an incoherent mess, comparable to "Tetsuo".

Ultra-auteur (writer, director, DP & star) Kei Fujiwara takes a bold step into a bloody landscape where Cronenburg drops acid with Lynch as D. Argento serves up livermush sandwiches to the late Mr. Fulcio.

Fine. Unfortunately she forgot to bring along some extra flashlights to brighten up her plethora of grainy, murky scenes, and pack a script that was at least halfway finished before production commenced. Not so fine.

Engrossing in some scenes, but infuriatingly obtuse throughout, ORGAN needs at least SOME sort of linear spine to hang its meat hooks on (and more violence would to boot). While watching the film, one senses that many scenes could have been cut in any order, and it still wouldn't affect the narrative much. Sigh. Still, it's required viewing for any blind dates, or first-time meetings with a potential mother-in-law!

For the first half, I was actually enjoying this quite a bit. I appreciated the gore (the hallucinatory sequence of one of Saeki's victims emerging from a cocoon-like object is easily the highlight to the film's gore) and found some of the disturbing bits to the film quite promising. For instance, Saeki having a secret room in his school office where dead and mutilated bodies were stored (Numata's brother, for instance) was a disturbing concept. I also found Numata's investigation of the gang compelling since it came with emotional stakes. For the first half of the film, I was on board with the film and eager to see how everything could culminate. Unfortunately though, somewhere around the halfway point, the film gets increasingly harder to follow. With so many characters and motivations being added, it became more and more difficult to keep track of who was who and what the motivations of everyone was. Eventually, many scenes in the second half made me ask "Where did this come from?" repeatedly. This culminated in a messy and ponderous final act which took all kinds of confusing fates to the various characters and crammed them into each other in a very unpleasant way. The final fight in Saeki's school office was horrendously messy, in particular. Also, while I enjoyed the gore at first, it didn't ramp up as the film went on and eventually got to a point where I kept asking "Didn't they already repeat a similar effect several times?" as I watched it. So yeah, just a big letdown overall. I wouldn't quite call it a bad film though as the first half contained enough potential to prevent it from being a complete waste of time and, in spite of what I said about the second half, there were a few promising moments thrown into the mix (that was few and far between though) that gave me brief breaks from the second half's mostly ponderous tone.

okay, I'm not going to even try to explain the plot of this unique film... instead i will say that "Organ" can honestly be considered one of the strangest, yet also most beautifully crafted, movies that i have ever had the pleasure of setting eyes on. Some will say that the director was just trying to use the back-story as an excuse to showcase graphic violence and gore in an attempt to gross-out and shock the viewer... but this is the furthest thing that i can conceive as being possible. Yes it is extremely graphic in it's depiction of the twisted inner-workings of the human soul, but the gist of the fact is that the director was trying to depict (or at least in my interpretation...) just that... that humans can be sick and perverse... even those who have been deemed to be social leaders. Granted, the first time you view this film, you may get lost. Between all the blood, violence, and distorted dream-like imagery you are sure to become at least a little confused (especially those of us who do not speak Japanese and are held captives to the subtitles). But upon subsequent viewings, i believe you will find that the story represents a masterful vision of the contrast of the conflicting sides of human personalities... even those of us who are trying to do good are not always saints... every man has his own dark side to him. Just please give this film a chance, and try not to be intimidated by the subject matter within. Instead, just allow yourself to take in all of the sights, sounds, images, and metaphors that are rooted so firmly in this film... and try not be overwhelmed... no matter how hard that may be... and i think you will find "Organ" to be as engrossing as I did.