If Generics of the Metal Gear made you smile with the name dHideo Kojima which appeared at each line, no doubt that Junk Head should get your attention. Unlike this megalomaniac video game creator, Takahide Hori He actually worked alone. Alone in animation, script, photography and sound designuntil the coffee he probably used himself at the break for a project that spanned more than eleven years of daily work. Presented as a short film in 2013 at the festival Fantasia of Montreal, it will still take seven long years for Junk Head Some kind of chrysalis. Presented in preview at the Strange Festival in Paris and at the European Fantasy Film Festival, back on this UFO of Japanese animation and on the long-term work of a lonely artist!
« I've never had many friends and I guess it's never been easy for me to ask other people for help. Despite this, I couldn't contain my creativity and decided to scratch my own past... even if I was alone. »
Junk Head is a film made by someone who had no experience in cinema. A self-taught who experimented himself by inspired tutorials on Youtube. His work is a little bit Journey to the center of the Earth but replace the heart with a waste house where creatures worthy of The Thing can cut you in half at every corner. « Men would have exceeded their mortality, abandoned the natural mode of reproduction and delegated all dangerous spots to drones » (Cuckoo Amazon). This starting point of the scenario probably echoes the malaise of Japanese society, the "Sekkusu shinai shokogun"or celibacy syndrome." This practice gains a fringe of Japanese society that locks up in isolation, finds the couple bewildering and even increasingly renounces sex, considered repugnant in the most severe cases. Junk Head Somewhat offers a dystopic version of a dehumanized Japan. In one of the rare scenes on the surface of the earth, humans – with heads identical to those of simili playmobiles – can be seen wearing wigs in the morning to differentiate each other. The world is smooth and untapped. In contrast to the depths where clones rebelled against their creators and went into exile.
« I was watching ten movies a day. It was like an addiction and when I was watching movies, I always wondered what I would do differently if it was mine. What changes? What was boring? »
Our hero, weary of a flat and aseptic life, dreams of becomingIndiana Jones modern times. The rogue will not disappoint by enlisting in one of these perilous missions on hostile land in order to regain the origin of fertility. Barely propelled into a caisson to the depths, that he is the victim of a rocket fire from the Hamas Local. Decapitated, it's the beginning of troubles while curious humanoid creatures will rafistole him... Takahide Hori also chose to make his characters speak in an imaginary language like the "Yogurt" dAnimal Crossing. With an entry into matters like this, it goes without saying that my curiosity was awakening. In addition to the certain qualities of his baroque universe, Takahide Hori has made everything himself from A to Z. Some may say that the animation is sometimes hesitant, others on the contrary will see a tribute to the old films of Godzilla and King Kong.
For my part I would belong more to the second category. Furthermore, if animation is not perfect, far from it, it is very well highlighted thanks to camera effects, slow motions and dynamic plans that make the action very effective. Everything has been filmed at 24 frames per second, which contributes to the fluidity of the ensemble. Takahide filmed himself on a green background and then transcribed the movements on the models he made and painted by hand. Everything was shaped from every piece in his studio in Kujukuri, Japan. Some sets were even more than ten meters long! After being noticed at international festivals, the self-taught director was even approached by Hollywood. But he did not speak English at all and he even ignored them as he himself admits in an interview given to the media NHK World Japan. The division of tasks specific to large studios was not interested, even though the proposal was tempting.
« The fact that all this happened is a miracle. [...] I was just a person doing creative work. And I did it! And that's because I just refuse to give up. It's the story of my movie. The main character is just a normal person. »
When our reckless hero is chased by deformed monsters that would not deny HR Gieger or that creatures are devoured by giant worms, the sinister realization transfigures these scenes particularly gores. The film takes a structure sometimes close to the video game with « related quests » to our unfortunate explorer. Going to buy mushrooms on human back cultures, to be hunted by creatures who defy through the mouth or to fight mutants with a trio of bouncing hunters, the film follows the most humiliating situations.
We will only blame a sometimes abrupt montage, especially towards the end of the film unfortunately precipitated and certain scenes that might have gained to be removed for the final version, in order to gain pace and avoid scattering along the way. Some decors also remain minimalist or have been reused, contrary to the profusion offered by Mad God also presented in the animated film competition and rewarded at the Strange Festival. As long as you ignore these few flaws, Junk Head offers an unparalleled journey, so that one would almost expect a sequel, partly blown by the director, determined to continue his hard work. While waiting for a possible Junk World, find our impressions below in video.
« It is sent to this underground mission even if he does not have any special skills. But he doesn't give up. He is determined to complete this mission [...] Somehow, it's a perfect mirror of my own story! »
It's a turn to have done all the animation on its own.
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