“I want world peace. First remove want because that’s desire, and I, because that’s ego, and you have world peace.”
Wow. What a movie. Obayashi, especially in his later films, was truly one of the greatest visionaries to ever grace the silver screen. I mean, what other film starts with an introduction by a guy called Fanta G in a time travelling spaceship. The first half of this movie is pure chaos, everything swirling at a breakneck pace, before slowly dragging off into a slow, drawn out examination of war and film. And that first half is so hard to follow, absolutely frenetic, operating at a pace comparable to only Uncut Gems. Labyrinth of Cinema is a dream that turns into a nightmare, that reverts to a dream, before returning to a nightmare, that turns into a vision. And I feel that that’s the power of cinema, the roller coaster of emotions between films. And Obayashi is so aware of the effect that film has on us. There’s a solid 20 minute vignette in this where I totally forgot that this is a guy inside of a movie, and the character forgets too. Total immersion in every dimension.
Obayashi’s late era visual technique is one of a kind. The dream-like, intentionally blotchy chroma keying, the vibrant, renaissance-esque colors deployed on the frame. When the film turned into a silent movie I lost my shit. It’s awesome. And it’s very autobiographical I feel. As Obayashi’s final film, his swan song, a final plea to the people of the world, a conclusion to the war based quadrilogy he’d been crafting for over a decade, a simple cry to stop the violence, to love thy neighbour. The vignette about the little boy and his drawn-on film feels very much like a personal memory of Obayashi’s to me.
Obviously would recommend this, in conjunction with Hanagatami to anybody. Just some of the most striking beautiful, meditations on war and its effects to ever grace the theatre. Could really be a 5 star in a few weeks after some rumination. Bravo, rest in peace to Nobuhiko Obayashi, one of the all-time greats.
“I want world peace. First remove want because that’s desire, and I, because that’s ego, and you have world peace.”
Wow. What a movie. Obayashi, especially in his later films, was truly one of the greatest visionaries to ever grace the silver screen. I mean, what other film starts with an introduction by a guy called Fanta G in a time travelling spaceship. The first half of this movie is pure chaos, everything swirling at a breakneck pace, before slowly dragging off into a slow, drawn out examination of war and film. And that first half is so hard to follow, absolutely frenetic, operating at a pace comparable to only Uncut Gems. Labyrinth of Cinema is a dream that turns into a nightmare, that reverts to a dream, before returning to a nightmare, that turns into a vision. And I feel that that’s the power of cinema, the roller coaster of emotions between films. And Obayashi is so aware of the effect that film has on us. There’s a solid 20 minute vignette in this where I totally forgot that this is a guy inside of a movie, and the character forgets too. Total immersion in every dimension.
Obayashi’s late era visual technique is one of a kind. The dream-like, intentionally blotchy chroma keying, the vibrant, renaissance-esque colors deployed on the frame. When the film turned into a silent movie I lost my shit. It’s awesome. And it’s very autobiographical I feel. As Obayashi’s final film, his swan song, a final plea to the people of the world, a conclusion to the war based quadrilogy he’d been crafting for over a decade, a simple cry to stop the violence, to love thy neighbour. The vignette about the little boy and his drawn-on film feels very much like a personal memory of Obayashi’s to me.
Obviously would recommend this, in conjunction with Hanagatami to anybody. Just some of the most striking beautiful, meditations on war and its effects to ever grace the theatre. Could really be a 5 star in a few weeks after some rumination. Bravo, rest in peace to Nobuhiko Obayashi, one of the all-time greats.