I was able to talk to Hal Hartley at a festival a few years ago, before KIMONO came out. I'd seen about 1/2 of his films at the time and I really enjoyed them. Plus, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on understanding them. (And I REALLY liked THE BOOK OF LIFE, which I've seen more than once). Then came KIMONO. Well - quite good for a film class discussion. I saw this film with two others in the 6th (of 8) series of 3 films each. Due to some technical error, a minute of so of KIMONO had inadvertently been spliced onto one of the other 2 short films. When this was discovered, the director of the venue came out and explained the situation, saying they would shortly run the additional footage. And then said, with tongue firmly in cheek, "And then the film will be entirely understandable." Nope - still rather inscrutable. An Oriental newlywed couple driving in the countryside stop - the man throws the woman out. She makes her way through fields and forests and finds an abandoned cabin. Are the other female figures we see real or wraiths? Transitions from one scene to the next are framed by floating words coming together on the screen to make philosophical quotes. Beautifully photographed, intriguingly sequenced. But I don't think I could write a spoiler for it if I tried. Worth the time, though.
