Someone commented that this movie may be enjoyed by lonely middle aged women who read Cosmopolitan. Well I am a middle aged woman, but I read Mojo and Mother Jones - funny because about twenty minutes into this film I found myself wondering if this movie was made for twentysomething women who demand to be taken seriously, but are a little emotionally stunted.
I thought this film was really shallow and bloated in its minimalistic approach to convey characters that were humorless, colorless and poorly sculpted. And I love minimalism and road movies. The bathroom scene made me cringe with its haunty tinkle tinkle piano music - Rei thinks to herself, "Why does this man understand me?" Gee I don't have a clue. I'd like to understand you, but I need just a teeny bit more meat to chew in order for me to care.
I've liked Japanese pop/alt/rock for some time and I thought this soundtrack was sad, I mean bad. The song about all the trash and the snow and the snowy trash was perfect for this film. It tried to say something by saying not much and lyrically, to me, came off as laughable.
Vibrator made me wonder if perhaps because of thousands of years of culturally imposed emotional repression, this film does in some way represent a Japanese "new wave" and if it takes baby steps, then director Hiroki is at least crawling pretty well. But the film is sort of like Rei's first upchuck - half digested watery booze and few bits of artificially colored snack chips.
I thought this film was really shallow and bloated in its minimalistic approach to convey characters that were humorless, colorless and poorly sculpted. And I love minimalism and road movies. The bathroom scene made me cringe with its haunty tinkle tinkle piano music - Rei thinks to herself, "Why does this man understand me?" Gee I don't have a clue. I'd like to understand you, but I need just a teeny bit more meat to chew in order for me to care.
I've liked Japanese pop/alt/rock for some time and I thought this soundtrack was sad, I mean bad. The song about all the trash and the snow and the snowy trash was perfect for this film. It tried to say something by saying not much and lyrically, to me, came off as laughable.
Vibrator made me wonder if perhaps because of thousands of years of culturally imposed emotional repression, this film does in some way represent a Japanese "new wave" and if it takes baby steps, then director Hiroki is at least crawling pretty well. But the film is sort of like Rei's first upchuck - half digested watery booze and few bits of artificially colored snack chips.