Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Strange Circus


"Strange Circus" defies a simple synopsis. I could spend this entire review explaining the intricacies of director Sion Sono's ("Suicide Club") 2005 film, but it would be useless. This film, verging on pornography, has to be seen to be believed or even understood.

As a young girl, Mitsuko is thrust into a depraved world of voyeurism and sex by her father, her school principle. At first, the girl is forced to watch her parents have sex from the relative safety of a cello case. But, as time passes, Mitsuko and her mother Sayuri switch places. In a fight of jealousy and rage, it appears as though Mitsuko pushes her mother down the stairs, leaving her alone with Gozo. Later in life, everything is thrown into question when a man enters Mitsuko's life, forcing her to confront what really happened in her youth.

Believe me, that's the sanitized, PG version of "Strange Circus." I left out the orgies, graphic stabbings, beheading, more references to sex than I can shake a stick at, bondage, insanity, amputation...and disturbing images. In the hour plus documentary accompanying this film, director Sono claims his film is visually erotic and sometimes grotesque. I'd argue just the opposite: it's sometimes erotic and visually grotesque. It's somehow appropriate TLA Releasing has included this title in it's Danger After Dark series. Movies like "Dawn of the Dead" are violent and bloody, but they exist in a reality other than our own. "Strange Circus" occurs in our reality. There are no zombies running around the streets or aliens zapping buildings out of existence. This is all real.

If there is one theme I can latch onto, it is torture. Torture for Mitsuko, torture for her mother...and torture for the audience. "Strange Circus" isn't a bad film in the conventional sense; it's the most graphic and disturbing thing I've ever seen committed to film. Throughout her life, Mitsuko is tortured, first by her father, then in the difficult to watch fight scene with her mother and through the end of the film. She has been used her entire life and spit back out into the world.

Or so we're led to believe.

A strong case can be made to suggest the majority of the film is a hallucination on the part of older Mitsuko, that she is writing a story and it plays out in front of her eyes. Based on the ending, which is so bizarrely riveting I won't spoil it here, identities were swapped and events did not happen the exact way we are led to believe. And that's the most maddening thing about "Strange Circus": the minute we think we understand what's going on, the rug gets completely pulled out from under us, making us scramble to reconnect the dots. Thankfully, a character is brought in near the end (Yuji) whose sole purpose is to tell us exactly what happened. Otherwise, it would be a complete jumble.

There are no innocents in this film, no one for the audience to empathize with. Yes, we may sympathize with Mitsuko's plight, yet as the movie wears on, the sympathy turns into disgust and, ultimately, into utter confusion. Gozo, the father, comes closest to come kind of faux redemption when he admits to Mitsuko she must keep the secret of what they do together because it is wrong. At that moment, I can imagine the collective audience standing up and shouting a profanity at the screen. It's not guilt that makes him say this; it's the idea of being found out and having to stop his games. Gozo is a sex addict, as we see many times throughout the film. He can't get enough sex from wherever he can get it.

"Strange Circus" is a jumble, at many times a mess. It's not an art film in the usual sense; it's not horror, either. It is a weird amalgamation of the two genres. The most terrifying moment, if there is such a thing in this film, comes at the end in Mitsuko's childhood house. It involves a chainsaw. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. We want some kind of linear storytelling, something that goes from Point A to Point B to Point C in a nice, neat fashion. American filmmaking does this with regularity; foreign films find themselves more open to the possibilities of non-linear storytelling and confusing the audience beyond comprehension. That's what this film does: it confuses the dickens out of us. And it terrifies.

It is an experiment in every shape and form. Masumi Miyazaki (playing dual roles) is simply breathtaking to watch, as she transforms from one character to another, the daughter to the mother and back again. She dives headfirst into the role, baring every raw emotion the material brings to the surface. It's a wild performance, doubly so considering she actress was away from acting for 11 years before working on this film.

This is a niche film, no doubt about it. There are beautiful visuals and one powerhouse performance by Miyazaki, but "Strange Circus" isn't going to appeal to everyone. Hell, it's not going to appeal to most audiences. Had this movie received a US theatrical run, there is no doubt it would have earned a hard R rating, verging on the dreaded NC-17. It's that grotesque, yet riveting, at the same time.

"Strange Circus" defies a simple synopsis. I could spend this entire review explaining the intricacies of director Sion Sono's ("Suicide Club") 2005 film, but it would be useless. This film, verging on pornography, has to be seen to be believed or even understood.

As a young girl, Mitsuko is thrust into a depraved world of voyeurism and sex by her father, her school principle. At first, the girl is forced to watch her parents have sex from the relative safety of a cello case. But, as time passes, Mitsuko and her mother Sayuri switch places. In a fight of jealousy and rage, it appears as though Mitsuko pushes her mother down the stairs, leaving her alone with Gozo. Later in life, everything is thrown into question when a man enters Mitsuko's life, forcing her to confront what really happened in her youth.

Believe me, that's the sanitized, PG version of "Strange Circus." I left out the orgies, graphic stabbings, beheading, more references to sex than I can shake a stick at, bondage, insanity, amputation...and disturbing images. In the hour plus documentary accompanying this film, director Sono claims his film is visually erotic and sometimes grotesque. I'd argue just the opposite: it's sometimes erotic and visually grotesque. It's somehow appropriate TLA Releasing has included this title in it's Danger After Dark series. Movies like "Dawn of the Dead" are violent and bloody, but they exist in a reality other than our own. "Strange Circus" occurs in our reality. There are no zombies running around the streets or aliens zapping buildings out of existence. This is all real.

If there is one theme I can latch onto, it is torture. Torture for Mitsuko, torture for her mother...and torture for the audience. "Strange Circus" isn't a bad film in the conventional sense; it's the most graphic and disturbing thing I've ever seen committed to film. Throughout her life, Mitsuko is tortured, first by her father, then in the difficult to watch fight scene with her mother and through the end of the film. She has been used her entire life and spit back out into the world.

Or so we're led to believe.

A strong case can be made to suggest the majority of the film is a hallucination on the part of older Mitsuko, that she is writing a story and it plays out in front of her eyes. Based on the ending, which is so bizarrely riveting I won't spoil it here, identities were swapped and events did not happen the exact way we are led to believe. And that's the most maddening thing about "Strange Circus": the minute we think we understand what's going on, the rug gets completely pulled out from under us, making us scramble to reconnect the dots. Thankfully, a character is brought in near the end (Yuji) whose sole purpose is to tell us exactly what happened. Otherwise, it would be a complete jumble.

There are no innocents in this film, no one for the audience to empathize with. Yes, we may sympathize with Mitsuko's plight, yet as the movie wears on, the sympathy turns into disgust and, ultimately, into utter confusion. Gozo, the father, comes closest to come kind of faux redemption when he admits to Mitsuko she must keep the secret of what they do together because it is wrong. At that moment, I can imagine the collective audience standing up and shouting a profanity at the screen. It's not guilt that makes him say this; it's the idea of being found out and having to stop his games. Gozo is a sex addict, as we see many times throughout the film. He can't get enough sex from wherever he can get it.

"Strange Circus" is a jumble, at many times a mess. It's not an art film in the usual sense; it's not horror, either. It is a weird amalgamation of the two genres. The most terrifying moment, if there is such a thing in this film, comes at the end in Mitsuko's childhood house. It involves a chainsaw. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. We want some kind of linear storytelling, something that goes from Point A to Point B to Point C in a nice, neat fashion. American filmmaking does this with regularity; foreign films find themselves more open to the possibilities of non-linear storytelling and confusing the audience beyond comprehension. That's what this film does: it confuses the dickens out of us. And it terrifies.

It is an experiment in every shape and form. Masumi Miyazaki (playing dual roles) is simply breathtaking to watch, as she transforms from one character to another, the daughter to the mother and back again. She dives headfirst into the role, baring every raw emotion the material brings to the surface. It's a wild performance, doubly so considering she actress was away from acting for 11 years before working on this film.

This is a niche film, no doubt about it. There are beautiful visuals and one powerhouse performance by Miyazaki, but "Strange Circus" isn't going to appeal to everyone. Hell, it's not going to appeal to most audiences. Had this movie received a US theatrical run, there is no doubt it would have earned a hard R rating, verging on the dreaded NC-17. It's that grotesque, yet riveting, at the same time.

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