On first look, this movie appeared to have everything I desire, but I was let down. My biggest problem was there were too many distractions from the actual story of the movie which resulted in boredom. The beginning and ending of the film serves as a breaker of the fourth wall which, however interesting, doesn't add one iota to the actual plot. Instead, it seems to serve other political intentions/themes for which I was just not interested in. You can research 1970s Japanese subculture both on the streets and in cinema to understand the connections, but even then, unless you're a film buff with this particular regional interest, it doesn't add to the actual story at hand.
The second plot detractor, was the incorporation of the random scenes. These included things like street dancing, some guys smoking drugs in public, a stutterer reflecting on his speech, and video recordings of personal ads. I'm all for the collage style, but again, I could not find any connection from these to the actual plot or the setting.
The story and the cinematic effects used had so much potential, but I ultimately found myself bored and detached due to all the unnecessary scenes. The director was trying to accomplish more than one mission in this film and the result was that the objectives clashed and eroded each other, mainly the story of our teenage protagonist.
The second plot detractor, was the incorporation of the random scenes. These included things like street dancing, some guys smoking drugs in public, a stutterer reflecting on his speech, and video recordings of personal ads. I'm all for the collage style, but again, I could not find any connection from these to the actual plot or the setting.
The story and the cinematic effects used had so much potential, but I ultimately found myself bored and detached due to all the unnecessary scenes. The director was trying to accomplish more than one mission in this film and the result was that the objectives clashed and eroded each other, mainly the story of our teenage protagonist.