{"id":6784,"date":"2017-03-23T09:28:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T08:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=6784"},"modified":"2017-04-01T09:50:14","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T08:50:14","slug":"haruneko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2017\/03\/23\/haruneko\/","title":{"rendered":"Haruneko"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Harunek\"<\/a>
Haruneko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nSeen at IFFR, Rotterdam (Netherlands)<\/a>

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nDirector:<\/B> Hokimoto Sora

\nWriter:<\/B> Hokimoto Sora

\nCast:<\/B> Yamamoto Keisuke, Kawase Yota, Akatsuka Minako, Lily, Tanaka Min, Iwata Ryuto, Takahashi Yo

\nJapan 2016

\n85 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hokimoto Sora’s debut Haruneko<\/I> is a quirky, somewhat surreal oddity.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

In the Bright Future strand, I happened upon the Japanese production Haruneko<\/I>, described in the catalogue thus: ‘makes a valiant play for the accolade “weirdest film of the year”\u2026’. That description being too much to resist, I headed out in the cold to take a look. In many ways, the film did not disappoint. It is set in a café run by a character known only as The Manager, with his elderly helper (a woman who knits) and a young man called Haru. People who wish to die \u2013 whether young or old, healthy or ill \u2013 come to the café and are then driven to a place deep in the woods, where the point of no return is on the other side of a tunnel. Once there, they can never change their mind about dying, and what they will find is that they will slowly disappear and be transformed into sound waves. Through the lens of a magic lantern show, aspects of their past lives are flashed onto a makeshift screen, with the show always culminating in a live musical number that features a children\u2019s choir and a raucous rock band wearing white cat masks. Honest! <\/p>\n

These plot conceits are justified by the overarching ‘point’ of the film that, in the end, ‘all that is left for us is to sing and dance.’ This may be so, but it is a bewildering and not wholly satisfactory cinematic ‘song and dance’. <\/p>\n

The terrible beauty of films that incorporate tropes of the fantastic, the uncanny, the speculative and the carnivalesque is that, while we can applaud the director\u2019s bravura and commitment to such narrative strategies, these strategies need to appear seamless, unself-conscious and wholly necessary, rather than artfully pretentious. Luis Buñuel is one of a handful who could accomplish this effortlessly. Director Hokimoto Sora seems laboured and less sure-handed in dealing with these strategies in his film. A tightrope walk of visual and textual precision in balancing these particular tropes \u2013 in contradistinction to losing balance to preciousness \u2013 is of fundamental concern to the would-be storyteller, and at times Sora seems to lose this balance. Even ‘difficult’ non-mainstream texts need a discernible and perceivable overall inner logic and clarity of vision \u2013 however diffuse this may be with regard to the storyline. That uncomfortable feeling of cringe-worthy pretentiousness did rear its head in me from time to time, especially in the musical sequences where the aesthetic seemed a little prosthetic. <\/p>\n

But having vented that criticism, I applaud the vision and courage of Sora for approaching his story in this way \u2013 we certainly could do with more of that in young filmmakers \u2013 and would, nonetheless, recommend seeing for yourself this quirky, somewhat surreal oddity. <\/p>\n

James B. Evans<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hokimoto Sora’s debut feature is a quirky, somewhat surreal oddity.
\nReview by James B. Evans<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[1403],"class_list":["post-6784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-festivals","tag-iffr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/surUP-haruneko","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4662,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/07\/22\/the-beast\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":0},"title":"The Beast","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"July 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Part fairy tale, part sex romp, part Buñuelian satire, Walerian Borowczyk\u2019s most notorious film remains a quirky oddity. Review by Sean Hogan","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Beast","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Beast-594x422.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Beast-594x422.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/The-Beast-594x422.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":527,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2009\/01\/09\/christmas-on-mars\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":1},"title":"CHRISTMAS ON MARS","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"January 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"For a completely different take on the traditional Christmas movie, The Flaming Lips' psychedelic, surrealist oddity Christmas on Mars falls somewhere between the slapdash, space-kitsch of Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space, the seasonal hope of Dickens's A Christmas Carol and the bizarre shockfest of Lynch's Eraserhead. Review by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":793,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2009\/11\/01\/bunny-and-the-bull\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":2},"title":"Bunny and the Bull","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"November 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bunny and the Bull is the debut feature of Mighty Boosh director Paul King and he certainly keeps up the visually inventive surreal stylings of his television work. Review by Paul Huckerby","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bunny and the Bull","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/review_bunny-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6115,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/12\/19\/the-reflecting-skin\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":3},"title":"The Reflecting Skin","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"December 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Philip Ridley\u2019s acclaimed tale of childhood, vampires and the prairie is as beautiful and menacing as ever. Review by Ed Gibbs","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Relecting Skin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/The-Relecting-Skin-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/The-Relecting-Skin-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/The-Relecting-Skin-594x334.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5915,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/10\/11\/der-nachtmahr\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":4},"title":"Der Nachtmahr","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"October 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A thoroughly discombobulating German oddity, Akiz's film is hazy and hormonal and well worth a look. Review by Mark Stafford","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Der Nachtmahr 1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Der-Nachtmahr-1-594x330.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Der-Nachtmahr-1-594x330.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Der-Nachtmahr-1-594x330.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":268,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/02\/01\/kamikaze-girls\/","url_meta":{"origin":6784,"position":5},"title":"KAMIKAZE GIRLS","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the weird and colourful world of Momoko (Ky\u00f4ko Fukada) - a dedicated follower of fashion - eighteenth-century-inspired 'Rococo' Lolita fashion, that is! Review by Claudia Andrei","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6784"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6793,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions\/6793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}