The annals of strange just got thicker with the arrival of "Funky Forest: The First Contact," a surreal sci-fi-musical-whatsit whose resistance to thematic or narrative logic renders viewers thoroughly. But pic merits attention from adventuresome fest programmers, and will doubtless accrue a cult following on DVD.
First team effort for writing-helming-editing trio of Katsuhito Ishii ("Shark Skin Boy and Peach Hip Woman," "Taste of Tea"), TV commercial directors Shin'ichiro Miki and Anika aka Hajime Ishimine is a series of deadpan, oft-fantastical non sequiturs and goofy plot threads. Latter occasionally intersect, but scarcely hint at any game plan. Recurrent elements include idiot TV variety show-style comedy duo "The Mole Brothers"; three hapless "Unpopular With Women Brothers" who look unrelated; three pretty young women first identified as "Babbling Hot Spring Vixens"; a nerdy high school teacher-cum-DJ involved with his star student; and sitcomsitcom-style "Homeroom!!!" chapters from a Dadaist school life.
Plus peppy choreographed dream sequences, unidentifiable puppet-or-CGI creatures, Cronenberg-style queasiness, and UFO visitations. Delirious, disarming pic is sharp in all tech and design departments.
Cult-favorite director Katsuhito Ishii (The Taste of Tea, Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl) teams up with the talented Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI to create another visually inventive masterpiece! Funky Forest features hilariously odd characters that will take you on an unpredictable cosmic journey. Three unpopular brothers, Masaichi, Masaru and Masao, are struggling to be popular among the girls. Luckily enough, they finally get a chance to have a co-ed picnic with some pretty young ladies! With 21 free-associative episodes ranging from a nonsense "sci-fi" comedy to a dance-battle daydream, Funky Forest: The First Contact will challenge your mind and melt logic, as its unique characters find themselves in warped dimensions way past our imagination. |