Cinema of the Surreal and Bizarre

Here's a somewhat legendary Japanese cult film, that I've been wanting to see, ever since I read a review for it in Phil Hardy's "Encyclopedia of Horror" back in the late '80s. It was apparently banned in some countries, and it's still banned in its native Japan. Although, it is a bizarre ride and a bit disturbing, it's not overly gory. The reason for the ban in Japan is actually simpler than that; it's a matter of political correctness. The Japanese word for 'malformed' is considered extremely derogatory towards the handicapped. This, combined with the film's exploitative use of deformed human beings, is the reason for the ban. It's based on the stories of Edogawa Rampo (the Japanese answer to Edgar Allan Poe). The director, Teruo Ishii, originally started out adapting Rampo's "The Strange Tale of Panorama Island"; but fearing this would be the only chance he would get to direct a film using Rampo's work, he decided to add in bits from other Rampo stories like "Ogre of the Secluded Isle", "The Human Chair", "Walker in the Attic", and "The Twins". This of course makes the plot convoluted and has the effect of making the whole movie disjointed; but this only adds to the surrealistic dream-quality of the film, which actually edges into Jodorowsky territory in some scenes. I'm not going to get into the plot too deeply, because as I stated above it's just too much to try and unravel here. Here's the basics: Hitomi, a man seemingly suffering from amnesia, awakes to find himself trapped in a mental asylum (populated by crazed naked women no less). He tries to figure out why he's there, and he remembers something about an island, and a strange lullaby keeps running through his head. He's attacked by a bald man whom he manages to kill; and then he makes his escape by opening a window (apparently it's not a very secure asylum). Once outside he hears a female street performer humming the same strange lullaby which is familiar to him. He confronts the woman, and just as she's about to reveal the location of the island from his memory, she gets knifed in the back. Hitomi is framed for the murder and has to make an escape. While on a train he sees a picture of a recently deceased man named Genzaburo, that happens to look just like him. Hitomi assumes the dead man's identity, fooling Genzaburo's relatives by making them think his death was misdiagnosed (he even manages to get down and dirty with Genzaburo's wife and mistress). He learns that the island from his memory is just off the coast of Genzaburo's home. He also learns that Genzaburo's father, Jogoro, is living on the island and is trying to transform it into an 'ideal community'. Hitomi (still masquerading as Genzaburo) decides to take a trip to the island....and this is when the movie takes a trip into beloved lunacy. Jogoro's island is basically an extremely surreal and psychedelic version of the island of Dr. Moreau; and his 'ideal community' is populated by hybrid surgical experiments that have transformed people into the 'malformed men' of the title. OK, that's pretty much the basics of the plot, because there's plenty of craziness going on between the scenarios I described above; and I haven't even discussed the ending which is completely absurd (in that good kind of way that only the Japanese can seem to pull off). The crazed doctor, Jogoro, is played by Tatsumi Hijikata who is the founder of butoh (a type of performance-art dance). The director, Teruo Ishii, cast him in the role specifically for his butoh dance movements, which are pretty eerie when he's seen twisting and contorting his body crab-like across the rocky shore of the island. This mixed with Ishii's jump-cut editing of Hijikata's movements makes for a very memorable scene. I highly recommend this movie especially if you're into surrealistic films in the style of Alejandro Jodorowsky, or Edogawa Rampo adaptations like RAMPO NOIR and MOJU.

Great Japanese film, based on the macabre short stories of Edogawa Rampo (known as the Japanese Edgar Allan Poe). It's an anthology consisting of 4 segments. The first segment is "Kasei no Unga (Mars Canal)" and it's only about 7 minutes long; but it's a very surreal 7 minutes and a nice way to open the anthology. A naked man (Tadanobu Asano) staggers along a bleak landscape and comes upon a pool of water where he sees the reflection of a woman (and I'll leave it there because this is really a conceptual piece left up to the individual viewer's interpretation). This segment makes great use of sound and the absence of sound. Up next is "Kagami Jigoku (Mirror Hell)" and it definitely brings the noir mystery element (as well as some S&M kinkiness). Private detective Kogoro Akechi (played by Tadanobu Asano), investigates a series of deaths where the victims faces have been melted, their skulls charred, and a handheld mirror found at the scene of each crime. It features a wonderfully kinky erotic scene involving rope and candle wax. The third segment, "Imomushi (Caterpillar)", is my favorite and the most disturbing; directed by the wonderfully demented Hisayasu Sato (Splatter:Naked Blood). A soldier returns home from war but without his arms and legs. He has also lost the ability to hear or speak. His wife takes care of him, but her "care" soon turns to torture and sadism. Private detective Kogoro Akechi (Tadanobu Asano) turns up again. Kogoro Akechi is a recurring character in Rampo's works (much like the character of Dupin in Poe's stories). This segment reminds me of a much more disturbing and sadistic version of BOXING HELENA. The fourth and final segment is "Mushi (Crawling Bugs)", and it's basically a surreal and melancholic tale of obsessive love (with some perverse twists of course). It also features some beautiful cinematography. Tadanobu Asano stars again as a limo driver for a stage actress, whom he's secretly in love with. She doesn't share this love, however, and he finds a way to (shall we say) remedy the situation.