964 Pinocchio

Firstly, we must address that this film is an art film. It thrives on visuals to tell the story. The explicitness of the visual effects are well executed for the sake of uncomfortableness and serves as a catalyst to keep the viewer interested, although it does not necessarily rely completely on visuals. The story itself holds a certain theme which comments on humans being just commodities. Sexual slavery does exist, however, in this particular film, the idea of sexual slavery has been taken to the extreme. Secondly, some underlying philosophy that this film holds, is that in order to experience peace with oneself, one must go through unbearable physical change. In a way, Kafka had his hand in this, think Metamorphosis, except incredibly painful and agonizing. Being a Japanese, underground, cult film, it is not appreciated everywhere, and is not expected to be. Director Shojin Fukui should proud of himself to have done such a controversial yet appealing film.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaatttttaaaaaaaabbbbaaannnaaaa - Weird - Aaaaaafffffaaaaaaaggggaaaahhaaaggaaaggggggggaaaaaaaaafffffaaaggg - Vomit - Aaaaaagggaaaafffffaaahhhhhaayyyaaaaabbbaaaabbbbbnnnnaaaahhhaaq - Japan - Aaaaaggggaahhhaahhhajjajjajajaaaahhhhhhhhhaaagggggggggggggggggg - Cyberpunk - Aaaaaaggggaahhhaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhttttttttttaaaaaaagggggaaaafffffaaa - Crazy Japan -

It's not exactly an adaptation of Carlo Collodi's short story, but rather a dark movie that uses the character of Pinocchio as a model in terms of creating an artificial being that tries to be as similar as possible to a human being. The budget is clearly very limited, so this is a Z movie, but the concept leaves everything up to the viewer's imagination. Shozin Fukui's intention was to tell a terrifying Cyberpunk story about a world with androids so highly developed that they resemble human beings, but with a disturbing side. The film is full of very crazy and grotesque scenes that seek to disturb the viewer. Long planes and assembly that may be boring. Very exaggerated performances that make the actors look like cartoon characters, also adding crazy sequences. The editing, direction and editing are responsible for increasing the power of the images, making watching this film a bizarre hallucinogenic trip. Many moments in this movie are so crazy they can be pointless, especially when Himiko descends into madness. This is a hellish journey that comes to dislike those who see it and that makes it both a peculiar and disturbing piece of Japanese cinema. My final rating for this movie is 6/10.

I feel like half the runtime of 964 Pinocchio is made up of people charging at the camera or screaming, often both at the same time. It's not an easy movie to rate out of 10, but it is a little easier to talk about in general.

To keep the synopsis as PG as possible, there's a "cyborg" on the loose that's malfunctioned for "reasons," but it wasn't properly gotten rid of. So when it's taken in by a strange young woman, it starts to learn how to function again, regaining something of what it seemed to have before. I guess that's broadly where the Pinocchio link comes into play (twisted/unusual journey of beoming a "real" being), but anyone expecting something with more similarities might be unpleasantly surprised by the directions 964 Pinocchio goes in.

It's a gross, dirty, repetitive movie. It has a certain beyond-grimy aesthetic and simply chooses to wallow in it for 97 minutes, and I admire it for that. Sometimes, I liked how dirty the film felt, to the point where maybe it was a mistake to pause it at one point and take a shower (something I genuinely did; not related to the movie necessarily). Sometimes, I felt worn down by it all, but that's perhaps more a feature than a bug.

I will say, at about the halfway point, 964 Pinocchio did become a bit boring, and I thought it had run out of steam after a fairly engaging first half. Thankfully, it saved a bunch of bonkers things for the last 20-ish minutes, so it ends on a high... or low, depending on your definition.

Probably don't watch this, if you're most people. Those wanting something different and gross should sign up, though.

I saw this movie at Best Buy, and remembered it being an unearthed films release. I still wasn't going to buy it until I flipped it over and saw a picture of a white faced, bleeding from the mouth, freak running down the streets with a few thousand confused people looking on. Knowing that those people weren't extras, I had to buy this movie.

This movie is pure insanity. At first It looks like it might be somewhat normal, everything makes sense, it seems almost cute...almost...Suddenly the whole movie takes a turn for the "worst" and all that wholesomeness we just witnessed turns into something completely opposite. A lot of people compare this movie to Tetsuo for some reason, which is like comparing apples to oranges, but that being said, 964 Pinocchio will make you appreciate Tetsuos coherent storyline. As insane as that may sound.

I don't want to mention, nor could I fully explain the plot, because that would ruin most of this movie. if your sick of your everyday Hollywood remakes and want a totally new experience, and like a bit of wackiness mixed in with your bizarre freak out films, than you will love this unique movie.