www.marebito-lefilm.comDir: Takashi Shimizu
Cast: Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomomi Miyashita, Kazuhiro Nakahara, Miho Ninagawa
He taped eye stabbing
finds naked girl underground
she likes to drink blood
“What the f**k?” said Mike as we caught up after Marebito, and his exclamation pretty much says it all. Yes, this was another selection that divided opinion, with the descent of Masuoka (Tsukamoto) into the underworld and his mutterings about “deros” (detrimental robots – don’t ask) sending Steve scurrying for the exit long before the end. Which is a shame, because Marebito turned out to be one the most original pieces of filmmaking I've seen all year. That’s not to say that I understood any of it; at times the film is quite impenetrable, but it’s the images and themes of Shimizu’s work that shock and seduce in equal measure. It all starts when Masuoka witnesses a grisly suicide on the Tokyo subway. He becomes obsessed by the expression on the guy's face and strives to experience the same emotion that he felt. This leads him on a journey deep underground where he finds a naked girl chained up (Miyashita), who he christens F, and then takes home to his flat - as you do. Like the suicide captured on Masuoka’s videotape, there’s an underlying undercurrent to the film telling you that you really shouldn’t be enjoying any of this, yet you can’t take your eyes off the screen. Maybe I’d sat through too many strange movies, or maybe the director was tapping into my most subconscious desires, but the idea of this feral young lady who - as it becomes apparent - only feeds on fresh blood, well, it really turned me on. Bolstered by a bravura performance from Shinya Tsukamoto (is he really acting, or is he genuinely barking mad?), Marebito is Japanese cinema at its bonkers best, and the closest we got to a Takashi Miike experience all festival. Just don’t ask me to explain it to you afterwards…
soulmining rating: ****
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