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It turns out that watching three films in a day is kind of a
lot for me. Guess what? I’ve got five a day for the rest of the
fest! I’m not complaining, the more
movies the better, but writing about all of them is apparently a trickier
endeavor for a person who takes a week to do one review. Notice I only got the one out yesterday, and
that was tiny. So I’m going for a less
formal, messier style for everything else, at least until I find a good
rhythm. Again, sorry. Going to be saying that a lot.
My second film of the fest was the Japanese indie, 3ft BALL
& SOULS. First of all, how can you
resist a title like that? I had no idea
what that meant, though it becomes at least partially obvious in the very
opening as someone rolls in a three foot ball bomb. The film is essentially the Anti-SUICIDE CLUB
(both the film and the actual practice in Japan). It has a very nice mix of drama, mystery, and
a surprising amount of humor. In what
boils down to a GROUNDHOG DAY for group suicide. Four despondent losers (in
their minds) meet to blow themselves up with a giant fireworks shell, but end
up repeating the event every time the bomb goes off. The obvious answer to the problem would be to
just leave and off themselves in different ways, but they are really set on death by firework. Admittedly, it’s a spectacular way to go, and
the intimate situation emphasizes the psychology behind group suicide. The director (and writer, producer, etc), Etsuo Kato,
switches genres to keep the repetition from getting too repetitive. The violence is suggestive rather than the
over the top Takashi Miike style like ICHI THE KILLER (also shown yesterday,
but I missed that one), though one scene is incredibly affecting and
disturbing. It can be a tad corny at
times, but I’m a sucker for an indie with heart, and this one has a ton. I don’t know how hard it will be to find this
one in the wild, but check it out if you get the opportunity. It’s the most feel good suicide movie of
2017, so far.
C Chaka
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