HAKUCHI - Japanese answer to BRAZIL?
Baragon
But HAKUCHI (The Idiot), based on the novel by the reknowned Japanese
existentialist author Sakaguchi Ango, written and directed by Macoto
Tezka, and starring Tadanobu Asano and Miyako Koda, is IMHO the sort of
film Terry Gilliam would direct if he had been born and raised in Japan.
Set in what appears to be an alternate-universe present day Japan, where
World War II never ended and B-52s still fly fire-bombing missions, and
madness is the norm of day to day existence, HAKUCHI is one of the most
incredibly surreal films of the past decade. It is also an unforgettable
love story.
Only recently released on video in Japan, this 1998 film deserves to be
subtitled and released to theaters in the US and UK.
I would think that a filmmaker like Gilliam would be interested in at
least watching this film, and possibly even lending his support to
seeing an English-subtitled release for Western audiences.
The main web-site for HAKUCHI is at:
http://www.neontetra.co.jp/hakuchi/index.html
If you understand Japanese, and have not yet seen this film, I recommend
it highly, particularly if you also happen to like Tery Gilliam's films.
Your local Japanese video shop is very likely to have copies for rent.
If you cannot read Japanese, and/or your web-browser is not set up to
view Japanese text, copy the above URL, and paste it into the search
engine at the bottom of elingo's home-page: http://www.elingo.com/
(which unfortunately appears to be down this evening), and it will do a
rough translation of the site into English.
Best wishes,
Baragon