Film #10: R100

R100

3 out of 5 stars

BIG MAN JAPAN director, Hitoshi Matsumoto, delivers a headscratcher of a film here. Part QUITTERS, INC… part THE GAME… R100 is a supercharged excursion into depravity, loneliness, and bondage. There is a secondary plot about the entire thing being part of a screening of a 100 year old director’s newest film (the titular R100), but I think it is mostly there top poke fun at critics and studio heads. Acting is good but there is a lot to keep track of. As with other films by filmmakers like Takashi Miike, Shinya Tsukamoto, and Sion Sono, it’s easy to get lost in the imagery and the twists and turns of the plot. Fans of the aforementioned directors will surely enjoy R100, but folks new to modern Japanese avant-garde may leave the film confused and frustrated. Still… R100 is a unique and fascinating film in the vein of Katsuhito Ishii’s A TASTE OF TEA & FUNKY FOREST. Recommended… with some caveats.