Tag. (15.)
Directed by Sion Sono.
Starring Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano, Yuki Sakurai, Aki Hiraoka, Ami Tomite. In Japanese with subtitles. 85 mins. Out on dual format (Blu-ray and DVD) from Eureka Entertainment.
What can I say about the plot of Sion Sono's latest release (actually two years old and he's made six films and a TV series since) without giving away too much? Not a lot. A coachload of Japanese school girls are on a trip, and then something strange and horrifying happens. It is so bizarre and random it really needs to be experienced pure and without prejudice.
But, if you're still reading: what follows is a cross country run punctuated by bloody massacres; a game of off-the-wall tag as the face, identity and personality of the lead protagonist (starting off with creepily young looking Reina Triendl, who is actually in her 20s) keep changing. Nobody ever stops still in this film; there are the occasional breather and then off we go again running, running, running for no clear purpose.
Saying a film has “a dreamlike logic” has become something of a cliché but here you really get the sense of helplessness that a dream has, of being stuck in a narrative not of your choosing. The film even has a character who calls herself surreal. The film though isn't just randomly oddball: there is an explanation and it isn't “it was all a dream.”
There is always a market for Japanese schoolgirls in short skirt flapping about hysterically and getting doused in blood, but this has real invention among the exploitation elements. Sono is an erratic talent but this is definitely on the good half of his output, though it doesn't reach the heights of Love Exposure or Tokyo Tribe.
Directed by Sion Sono.
Starring Reina Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano, Yuki Sakurai, Aki Hiraoka, Ami Tomite. In Japanese with subtitles. 85 mins. Out on dual format (Blu-ray and DVD) from Eureka Entertainment.
What can I say about the plot of Sion Sono's latest release (actually two years old and he's made six films and a TV series since) without giving away too much? Not a lot. A coachload of Japanese school girls are on a trip, and then something strange and horrifying happens. It is so bizarre and random it really needs to be experienced pure and without prejudice.
But, if you're still reading: what follows is a cross country run punctuated by bloody massacres; a game of off-the-wall tag as the face, identity and personality of the lead protagonist (starting off with creepily young looking Reina Triendl, who is actually in her 20s) keep changing. Nobody ever stops still in this film; there are the occasional breather and then off we go again running, running, running for no clear purpose.
Saying a film has “a dreamlike logic” has become something of a cliché but here you really get the sense of helplessness that a dream has, of being stuck in a narrative not of your choosing. The film even has a character who calls herself surreal. The film though isn't just randomly oddball: there is an explanation and it isn't “it was all a dream.”
There is always a market for Japanese schoolgirls in short skirt flapping about hysterically and getting doused in blood, but this has real invention among the exploitation elements. Sono is an erratic talent but this is definitely on the good half of his output, though it doesn't reach the heights of Love Exposure or Tokyo Tribe.
