I think it's great. I find it very satisfying when there is a clever and creative yet simple concept on which to build an involving narrative.
In this case the simple concept (when I say "simple" I don't mean it in any sense that would undermine Kato's creativity... I don't mean basic... it's difficult to make things simple!) is that a man has had to build his house higher and higher, block onto block, as water around him has risen over the years. This one device forms the narrative for the film and acts as a metaphor for his own life: as he has built higher he has had to build smaller. The bottom of the house which he inhabited earlier in his life, when he had a family around him, is spacious while at the top, where he now lives alone, is a single room with bed, kitchen and living in one.
This film stood out for me because I am trying to construct a similarly simple, analytical device as the bones of my film onto which a more delicate, 'human' narrative can be fleshed out, just as is the case here.
It does contain some 'I'm now all on my own' cliches that I'm not too keen on (and have tried to avoid in my own solitude themed narrative) like staring at old framed photos of your now absent family. Having said that it's cliched for a reason (it works) and it does suit the general mood of this film, one of the main themes of which is memory and loss.
Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it. I'll be keeping it in mind and trying to capture something of what makes it work in my own film.
No comments:
Post a Comment