Japan
2017 83 mins OV Japanese Subtitles : English
Official selection
Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival 2018, Nippon Connection 2018, Japan Cuts 2018
Bobby, an all-American boy living in rural Japan, is in a great mood. His homemade cardboard game console won first prize at his school’s arts and crafts competition, and his best friend Akkun has more great news. He’s discovered a secret mountain path to the neighbouring village. Exploration is in order! The overgrown trail harbours surprises for the inquisitive lads – like the creepy old man with the monkey, who warns the pair away. And then there are seemingly discarded billboards leading the way to a seemingly abandoned amusement park called Violence Voyager. The park, however, is very much up and running, and its courteous staff are happy to help the boys get suited up for a very, very unusual fun-park experience…
In 2013, Fantasia proudly presented BURNING BUDDHA MAN, the first feature film from ultra-outré Japanese creator Ujicha. A lurid and disturbing tale of mysticism and mutation, it revealed a rogue talent who’d staked out a very strange place for himself and his fevered imagination. Ujicha is the world’s leading (and as far as we can tell, only) practitioner of “gekimation”. It’s a fascinating, budget-slashing technique more accurately perceived as paper theatre than animation, in which hand-painted cardboard cutouts – and in Ujicha’s case, a fair amount of fumes, liquids and unidentifiable slimes – are manipulated and filmed live. Last seen in the mid-’70s Japanese TV series CAT EYED BOY, gekimation is back and serving very disturbing purposes in Ujicha’s work – no less so in his brand-new second feature, VIOLENCE VOYAGER. Suit up for a ride you won’t soon forget! - Rupert Bottenberg
