Shiki-Jitsu

If you're interested in this film, it's probably because you're a Hideaki Anno fan. This is probably his most obscure film: it only ran in a museum of photography and a few other small outlets in Japan, and in some scattered film festivals worldwide. And for good reason: this is also certainly his most self-indulgent piece so far. You wanted Anno-style work, well Shikijitsu will give it to you, but in all the bad ways as well as the good.

First, the good: the sets and cinematography are stunning. For the shooting, an entire unused building was rented out and filled with strange, colorful objects. The shapes and contrasts are beautiful: a water-filled basement inundated by blue light, a white table with four bright red phones.

There are some brilliantly original set tricks: for example, the windows on the different sides of the building are of different-colored tinted glass, so that when lightning strikes, it appears as sometimes red, sometimes blue or green. The camera work feels distinctly anime-style.

But beyond this, I felt the film didn't have much to offer. Remember the psychedelic and baffling last two episodes of Anno's Evangelion? Take those and lengthen them to 2 hours, and remove the previously established context and character development that gave them some amount of meaning. The film's entire dialogue is an abstract, mostly incomprehensible mishmash of pseudo-philosophizing about love, loneliness, the boundary between fantasy and reality, family feuds and a bunch of other random themes Anno likes to wax poetic about. It keeps flipping from one theme to another, making meaningless over-generalizations about life ("The world is filled with cruelty and malice", etc), never cohering into any kind of sensible system that I was able to understand. All this, frankly, was boring. By the end I was squirming in my seat for the thing to end.

Shikijitsu is packed with symbols that don't symbolize anything. One line that sticks particularly in my mind in this respect is a comment about train tracks: they go on forever without ever once touching, and yet they are part of a single unit. A touching, beautiful metaphor, surely --- but for what? It is never made clear what this is meant to represent. A metaphor with no referent is empty and weak, no matter how beautiful it sounds.

Shikijitsu gives the appearance of depth, but doesn't really have it. Or if it does, it was impossible to discern in the general confusion (at least for me). What's left is a beautiful, superficial film, full of angst and color.

Recommended for photography lovers or die-hard Anno fans.

I'd been waiting to see this film for nearly three years and finally I had the chance to see it. Luckily, I was not disappointed. This is truly one of the most profound films I've ever had the pleasure to watch. The plot, which I refuse to spoil, delves deeply into the human psyche and it's fragility. It's impossible to not be changed or indeliably marked after watching this true work of cinematic art. Anno's deeply psychological 'Evangelion' runs parallel to this work. Anno is intrigued and infatuated with the fragility of the human mind and the power of belonging and love. 'Ritual' shows the frailness of the human mind and how easy it is to be detached from reality. This is truly a must see film, for lovers of true cinema and lovers of life. Don't let the first 20 minutes deter you from committing to watching the movie, take it all in and the motif will begin to seep into your soul.

As far as the cinematography goes, one can't help but notice Anno's attention to detail in his construction of the motif of entrapment. Pay close attention to the use of frames and barriers; frames within frames, tunnels, mazes, labyrinths, spiral staircases all ripe for deep analysis.

This film truly renders what it is to be human. Beautiful and Essential.

This felt a good 20 to 30 minutes too long for me, which holds it back from greatness in my eyes. That being said, I still liked a good amount of this film, and there were moments throughout that were very effective and powerful.

It's clear to see it as a personal film for Hideaki Anno, and it's different to anything else I've seen from him. I think with this, he proves he can do grounded drama without the sort of sci-fi elements found in his best known movies/shows... but I just wish this had been assembled and edited to be a bit tighter, because to me, it didn't feel like it needed to be more than two hours.

How come none of the reviews here have mentioned bipolar disorders, manic depressive episodes, or anything of the like? For all I'm reading about the fragile human psyche and the likes I only saw a character who needed serious help and only used thinking errors to improperly cope.

Yeah there was an artistic approach but a total lack of dealing with the mental issues at hand. I only give the five stars for the decent acting and cinematography. Without at least some acknowledgment of the improper functions of her brain I can't give this movie anything better.

Ayako Fujitani is gorgeous and amazing in this film, it's hard to believe that her only other significant credits are three giant monster Gamera movies! (Which I would now like to see!)

Anno, for those who know his anime, is well-suited for film. The type of fun visual metaphors that filled "KareKano" from wall to wall are here, too, but used a bit more sparingly.

The plot concerns a burnt-out animator/filmmaker who, running away from his career, returns to the industrial town where he was born. There he encounters a waif, a half-crazy, suicidal, obsessive-compulsive girl who nevertheless has an incredible charm about her. By just listening to her (and eventually filming her), he becomes a part of her life.

As the two grow ever closer, of course disaster looms. Will he need to retreat from this crazy girl? Will his retreat destroy her fragile heart?

The end of the film is a bit disappointing. Anno offers some explanations of why she is like she is, but there really is no revelation. Without revelation, it would be better if left mysterious. This may be the novelist's fault but, given his history, Anno does seem to have problems with endings.

The cinematography is quite beautiful, even the polluted landscape of an industry town is gorgeous here.

Another viewer complained about metaphors, wondering specifically about the girl liking railroad tracks because they are always together but never meet. Well, the girl begs the guy to always be with her, and she also says that she does not like sex. Simple if you use your brain, but you do have to have one.

Any metaphors or philosophizing in this movie are just as simple. Nothing high-faluting or divorced from real experience.

If you liked Evangelion and think you will like this, please remember that there are no giant robots in this movie. If that's cool with you, you will probably have a good time. Thank you.

addendum: a year after writing the above, I learned that Fujitani is the daughter of action star Steven Seagal, and (between Gamera films) appeared in his 1998 movie The Patriot. Her novella "Shiki-Jitsu," which Anno adapted to the screen was inspired by the difficulties she experienced during the time she spent in Los Angeles. Now I'm even more in awe!