There's something special about this film. It's hard for me to put it into English, but it moved me so much that I needed to talk about it.
As far as descriptions go, I would just advise you to actually go watch it. The 'thing' that locks me into this film lurks around the edges of the plot and stares you in the eyes beyond the 18 minutes of this short.
I'm sure that most people will go on to talk about the visuals of this film. The editing and design; which remind me of that pocket of the internet characterized by the youths who arm themselves with ironic humor, obnoxious TEXT fonts, and an existential angst that hangs over every post they make.
But I think that when this movie starts making its way around our browsers, people will not be able to stop talking about how these cool visuals are being used to accurately communicate an experience (for some, the film might be communicating a 'feeling' or 'sensation' or some weird ideas they have always felt).
I really think many people having been craving (consciously or unconsciously), for a project like this. And I'm so thrilled to see such a talented director creating something that speaks directly to , what I assume will be, many of us (as if the film is taking a stroll with us into the 'beautiful void' that we often frequent). Maybe what's going on in this film is not exclusive to the 20-year old internet folk who walk among us, it could be that we are no different than all the other existential losers that came before us (it just happens that we communicate through weird glitch art and 90s aesthetics art) but even so, these tangents bring me back to the movie and how masterfully it adapts all this cultural baggage.
One of my favorite scenes happens early on between 0:45–2:18
The exchange between Ami, Ami's soul and Mystery Figure reminds me a lot of the different 'masks' we adapt during our lives. Mask that both control us and help us operate. This is a weird explanation but maybe there is one 'mask' that that fits in with our 'public' persona (the persona that wants to go out to dance and that has to stare at people in the face when walking alone in a crowded street). Maybe there's another mask that cries out to no one and everyone at the same time, an extension of what goes on in our heads, always bleeding in full display but for some reason, even this dramatic 'mask' can't communicate all these 'things' we have inside. Then there's our most intimate 'mask' (maybe we can call this our 'face' or out 'soul' or our consciousness). This is what we wear beneath the surface. An internal 'mask' that is always present, whom we try and run away from because it violently probes and asks the most painful questions that hurt us the most, but in a strange way, once we understand it, we become comfortable.
The other great scene happens between 9:03–11:15
In this scene we get another great exchange between Ami and Mystery Figure. They both travel to 'the real world' (maybe it's that special dream-world where we go to escape pain, maybe it's some cool little representation of death, or unconsciousness, a place our souls go before and after we die). I really love the line about 'the false world.' I love how it turns the place with music and people into 'the false world' and how it turns 'the void' into 'the real world' where Mystery Figure is from. I also love how the box of cigarettes is essentially like a 'power-up' that helps you get through life. That made me laugh out loud. I feel this is a good example of "Truth wrapped in a good joke." This part of the script reminds me of that special place in 'Hell' where many live. This "Hell" is a place where one struggles to find reasons to live. Walking the thin line between suicide and Hope (staying alive, longing for purpose and getting only suffering in return). This movie reminds me of that feeling, and how we continue to "retry" again and again, barely getting through with help from our box of "Hope"... searching for our 1% (this film reminds me a lot of that pathetic, but very powerful, hole that many of us live or lived in at one point).
I think that the charm of this movie is not only it's visuals and innovative way of communication (or the fact that it might be the first of its breed, or hybrid). To me what make this so special is the way it's able to lay bare these ideas and brutally expose these abstract concepts and complex feelings (that us losers have inside our brains). And how the director is able to tap into our emotional side with atmosphere and dialogue and how that's done using all these cool little techniques that pay tribute to the internet culture that housed us for years. In other words, it's not just one thing that makes this movie special, but everything working together. And how this is able to hold your conscious hostage and doesn't let go, even after the credits roll.
Shouts out to "Cinema Nippon" for covering this film too.
And if Meisekimu Genshi is reading this, I just want to say that you made the best movie I have seen all year and I am excited to see parts 2 and 3 of this film. Do what you want with this project. No matter where you take these films, i'll be sure to follow. I look forward to all of the 'amateur short films' that are to come <3
As far as descriptions go, I would just advise you to actually go watch it. The 'thing' that locks me into this film lurks around the edges of the plot and stares you in the eyes beyond the 18 minutes of this short.
I'm sure that most people will go on to talk about the visuals of this film. The editing and design; which remind me of that pocket of the internet characterized by the youths who arm themselves with ironic humor, obnoxious TEXT fonts, and an existential angst that hangs over every post they make.
But I think that when this movie starts making its way around our browsers, people will not be able to stop talking about how these cool visuals are being used to accurately communicate an experience (for some, the film might be communicating a 'feeling' or 'sensation' or some weird ideas they have always felt).
I really think many people having been craving (consciously or unconsciously), for a project like this. And I'm so thrilled to see such a talented director creating something that speaks directly to , what I assume will be, many of us (as if the film is taking a stroll with us into the 'beautiful void' that we often frequent). Maybe what's going on in this film is not exclusive to the 20-year old internet folk who walk among us, it could be that we are no different than all the other existential losers that came before us (it just happens that we communicate through weird glitch art and 90s aesthetics art) but even so, these tangents bring me back to the movie and how masterfully it adapts all this cultural baggage.
One of my favorite scenes happens early on between 0:45–2:18
The exchange between Ami, Ami's soul and Mystery Figure reminds me a lot of the different 'masks' we adapt during our lives. Mask that both control us and help us operate. This is a weird explanation but maybe there is one 'mask' that that fits in with our 'public' persona (the persona that wants to go out to dance and that has to stare at people in the face when walking alone in a crowded street). Maybe there's another mask that cries out to no one and everyone at the same time, an extension of what goes on in our heads, always bleeding in full display but for some reason, even this dramatic 'mask' can't communicate all these 'things' we have inside. Then there's our most intimate 'mask' (maybe we can call this our 'face' or out 'soul' or our consciousness). This is what we wear beneath the surface. An internal 'mask' that is always present, whom we try and run away from because it violently probes and asks the most painful questions that hurt us the most, but in a strange way, once we understand it, we become comfortable.
The other great scene happens between 9:03–11:15
In this scene we get another great exchange between Ami and Mystery Figure. They both travel to 'the real world' (maybe it's that special dream-world where we go to escape pain, maybe it's some cool little representation of death, or unconsciousness, a place our souls go before and after we die). I really love the line about 'the false world.' I love how it turns the place with music and people into 'the false world' and how it turns 'the void' into 'the real world' where Mystery Figure is from. I also love how the box of cigarettes is essentially like a 'power-up' that helps you get through life. That made me laugh out loud. I feel this is a good example of "Truth wrapped in a good joke." This part of the script reminds me of that special place in 'Hell' where many live. This "Hell" is a place where one struggles to find reasons to live. Walking the thin line between suicide and Hope (staying alive, longing for purpose and getting only suffering in return). This movie reminds me of that feeling, and how we continue to "retry" again and again, barely getting through with help from our box of "Hope"... searching for our 1% (this film reminds me a lot of that pathetic, but very powerful, hole that many of us live or lived in at one point).
I think that the charm of this movie is not only it's visuals and innovative way of communication (or the fact that it might be the first of its breed, or hybrid). To me what make this so special is the way it's able to lay bare these ideas and brutally expose these abstract concepts and complex feelings (that us losers have inside our brains). And how the director is able to tap into our emotional side with atmosphere and dialogue and how that's done using all these cool little techniques that pay tribute to the internet culture that housed us for years. In other words, it's not just one thing that makes this movie special, but everything working together. And how this is able to hold your conscious hostage and doesn't let go, even after the credits roll.
Shouts out to "Cinema Nippon" for covering this film too.
And if Meisekimu Genshi is reading this, I just want to say that you made the best movie I have seen all year and I am excited to see parts 2 and 3 of this film. Do what you want with this project. No matter where you take these films, i'll be sure to follow. I look forward to all of the 'amateur short films' that are to come <3
