Rengoku eroica (Heroic Purgatory)
Posted by martinteller on September 28, 2008
Well, this is one of those movies that just makes me feel stupid. I can deal with a movie not making sense, but sometimes I feel like I’m supposed to be getting it and I’m just not. Here we have… fuck, I don’t know what we have. Something about spies and maybe communism, characters whose relations to each other are constantly shifting, unexplained leaps in time that might or might not be merely subjective. It’s willfully obtuse almost to the point of self-parody, like someone’s mocking idea of what an “art film” is. The actors are stiff and distant, frequently staring off into space… perhaps because there’s no other reasonable way to interpret this material. I kind of liked it, but I was also frustrated by my confusion. However, I have to give points for style: the film is artfully composed, with characters often squeezed into the very corner of the frame, and lots of scenes blown out by blazing sunlight. Some interesting avant-garde music as well. I’m cautiously curious to check out more Yoshida. Rating: 6
