Mind Game

And I thought the avant-garde style of animation and story telling was going to take its routinely long hiatus with the marvelous Triplets of Belleville, but I was fortunately wrong.

After reading countless reviews, certain people proclaimed their dislike for this film with little to no elaboration given, which somewhat intrigued me and pushed me further toward wanting to experience Mind Game. As an avid follower of experimental cinema and anime I rarely get rewarded with solidly evolving features, but once in a while I strike gold and get to travel through the medium of rich expressionism dealing with both real life and fictional events in the utmost fascinating fashion. Mind Game is the recent treasure and a great example of such artistry, fusing stories of love, self worth and other qualities of life, without forcing conclusions or values, but merely giving you a chance to reflect on your life or simply enjoy that of the characters.

The main conflict of this film deals with a young man named Nishi, who lacks courage to do what he really wants in life. After a rather fatal turn of events he gets a second chance at life and love. So he embarks on a journey to face things he otherwise wouldn't, but his personal rediscovery takes place in the weirdest of places.

Aside from feeling a genuinely exalting rush with its almost mosaic imagery and perfectly fitting music, I felt something else while viewing Mind Game and I attained a certain notion afterwards, which I don't see worth sharing, since I believe everyone who'll give this a watch will acquire on their own terms, levels and depth.

I think 'Mind Game' is one of those movies that you either really like or really hate, but never in the middle. I spent first 20 minutes itching to turn it off since the animation style didn't seem all that pleasant, but then things just kept happening and before I knew it I was really immersed in it.

'Mind Game' has everything: irony, action, humour , even romance; and it touches practically every aspect of human life, going from relationships to domestic problems. All that covered in psychedelic imagery leaves a great impression.

You might experience various emotions watching this movie but one thing for sure, you won't feel like you've wasted your time when it's over.

This film is beyond anything that has been made to date, both in Japan and the U.S. It is not a conventional narrative, yet the narrative clips along like a kayaker on speed. It seesaws from tight-tension drama to dreamy atmospheric visualscapes to video-game style song and dance routines! The overall plot is unimportant yet is completely engaging and satisfying. The characters come across as real people, and the shifts in perspective and personality heighten our understanding of each character as they face their ordeals. We get a sense of time both passing and standing still- which is the true mark of a genius of film: The ability to wrap us up in his concept of time and carry us along breathlessly.

If you like shiny robots, plots about strange bio-computer viruses that mutate people into shiny robots, and silly relationship dramas about high school kids with strange powers, please avoid this film. If, however, you appreciate innovative stream-of-consciousness film-making, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants pacing, and so-sloppy-its-tight design, get yourself this DVD!!!! (Fans of FLCL take note!) Its hard to find in the U.S. right now (July 17th 2005) but it is poised to explode.

An additional note of interest is the fact that Matthew Minami is the voice of the old man- Jiisan. (You may remember him from the clips of him interviewing Bill Murray on Matthew's Best Hit TV that were featured in Lost in Translation...)

This movie is to a human mind what solving a really complex formula is to a physicist: an eureka! What I mean by this is this movie has all the elements of a life changing experience. You go expecting another entertaining dime-a-dozen type of film but you come out bewildered instead. Okay sure maybe this is a bit of an overstatement but it deserves some overstating since it only gets a poor review of not even 8 stars here on IMDb. I decided to give it a full 10.

I am not going to spoil the experience for you and I will just to sum it up in a few short words. This is the story of a loser named Nishi who bumps into his old flame while she's being chased by some bad guys. They eventually end up the girl's family restaurant where bad guys show up things go horribly wrong and everything changes for everyone.

I found the little snippets in between the story to be most valuable rather than the story itself. Although you need to follow the story closely to understand the snippets. Is is the little things that count. This movie is a lesson. Maybe some sort of don't do what I did type of lesson I don't know. But whatever it is I feel is the only drug you can take visually.

Enjoy.

Wow. What can I say? I was truly blown away by this movie. Winner of the Noburo Ofuji award (the most prestigious award in Japan for an animated film), this film has unfortunately only had a very limited release in Japan (although it is playing in theaters again since winning the award). The director, Masaaki Yuasa, has previously done critically acclaimed animation work on other series, and helped create the equally mind-blowing, and somewhat disturbing short animated movie "Cat Soup".

The first thing about the movie to note is the animation. The animators worked in a collaborative effort, and included a wide range of experimental and traditional animation techniques, a bit of CGI, and even a bit of live action. Viewed as individual pieces, it can be jarring, but seen together as a whole, each piece seems to fit with each other perfectly, with the different animation forms setting the mood perfectly.

The story begins in present-day Tokyo, and follows a loser who is letting his childhood girlfriend slip away. Things take a twist to the fantastical side, as the characters embark on a surreal journey that changes everything about them. The actual elements of the plot are not really the focus of the movie..it is about setting the mood, creating the atmosphere of the characters' emotions, and drawing the viewer in to same mental journey the characters are going on, without even realizing it. The pace of the movie picks up and slows in parts, before building up to its thunderous and (literally) exhausting climax.

See this movie , if only for the virtuoso animation that you will not see in any other film. And who knows? it just might change your whole outlook on life.