Listen to our full discussion of this absolute gem on our new podcast series Mysterium Pictorum! Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and everywhere else, too!
In an abandoned underground city at the Spanish coast, near Malaga, I found a USB stick containing 300 random movies from arthouse to weird, from obscure to notorious. Now, in Lockdown, it is time to watch and discuss them all in an international podcast project. Two Turks and a German, two filmmakers and a mystery man - Welcome to Mysterium Pictorum!
964 PINOCCHIO - INDUSTRIALLY DYSTOPIAN FICTION
This time, we are talking about Shozin Fukui's Techno Rave Cyberpunk film 964 Pinocchio!
I don't think the others liked this film as much as I did, this time.
First of all, I have to clarify: This movie was exhausting to me, it's absolutely revolting at times and when it was over, I felt physically ill.
Nevertheless, I think it is a desperately positive love story of the hurt and the damaged that made me very happy.
There are movies that say "Look at these atrocities! Aren't they awful?". Movies, that show you pain from the outside and invite you to either enjoy it sadistically or get angry about it with the filmmakers. Then, there are films that want to make you feel a kind of pain that isn't easily expressed in words or images. A kind of pain that you have to fully go through to feel the catharsis and relief of the ending lifting the burden, the happiness of seeing the suffering characters break free of their suffering.
This film is of the latter category. It's hard to watch, but it's worth it.
964 Pinocchio might seem pointless to you at times, slow moving, hard to endure, disgusting, all these things - But I think it is worth your time. It is about people who have been hurt and who are struggling to find a way to still be alive.
It starts out very sweet, then quickly becomes devastating and a non-stop assault on your senses, while preserving a certain sense of humor throughout. It is also filled with very unique ideas and techniques, guerilla style hidden camera scenes that preserve 90's Tokyo in a forever futuristic seeming time capsule - And puke. Lots of puke.
I recommend this movie. Watch it in a theater. Watch it with a crowd. Whenever that's possible again.
And do listen to our podcast and tell us if you like it! We're needy!