Phantom (II) (2013) User Reviews

One of the better no-to-low budget films I've seen.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 7/10 · 25 January 2014]

Going into Phantom I didn't realise it was a 'bedroom movie,' one most likely shot in the director/writer's house and probably guerrilla style in its exterior sequences. I decided to stick with it because it has similar ambitions to myself in how to make a simple low budget film so meaningful. Even though it's an amateur production, there's definitely potential talent behind the camera. Great Canon footage and eerie undercurrents of its score overcome poor sound quality and the interesting existential stream-of-thought ideas overcome weak storytelling. In fact, its minimalist images should be a prime example on what to do with low resources, though perhaps the film could've benefited from being a series of stills as the editing and movement in the frame feels too rough. It's a film all in the dialogue. A night of insightful conversations similar to Hiroshima Mon Amour or Before Midnight. It has the danger of being pretentious, but it comes from a well-intentioned and introspective place. It's full of very relatable mid-20s quarter-life-crisis anxieties where life hasn't really started or just begun.

In the conversation, it studies universal themes of identity and depersonalisation then places that perspective on others around us. It's concerned with social status, limitations, meaning of our lives and the consequence of our actions - an idea the title comes from, where a Phantom has no consequence. But is this study of cynical ideas darkly melancholic or merely bittersweet? It does suggest that bonding with another is the solution to life and while I certainly agree, it's a tough answer to chew on if it's not an option. However, as the film is about feeling disconnected, every relatable point it has where you feel connected to it is a wonderful feeling. It's arguable that the film is in fact a documentary with its Sans Soleil travelogue style without the travelling as there's only shards of fiction here and there. That's another slight issue with the film, while the conversation is strong and flows fluently enough, the images are often either cryptic or preachy. At least they're always thoughtful. It's certainly an interesting way to look at the world like Phantom. One of the better near-zero budget films I've seen.

7/10

Weird. Good weird.

[maxime-chesneau · 7/10 · 31 October 2013]

I was contacted by email through IMDb and got suggested to watch this movie...and oh how I don't regret it. I'm really into this kind of pointless yet interesting and finished too soon movie. I didn't know any of the actors involved and it was nice to watch fresh faces being so convincing and intense. The cinematography is really beautiful and I feel like I've traveled through Tokyo, through a really interesting and disturbing Tokyo. All in one, I was pleasantly surprised and I will tell my friends to look at for this one! I'm a fan of non blockbusters and kinda intimate movie that focus on a relationship only. We don't have explosions or any action, it's with an introspective feeling that we relate to it, not only by adrenaline, and it's always a pleasure. Good job to everyone involved !

In world of Phantoms...Hope is the answer.

[MrBuzz · 8/10 · 2 November 2013]

Half way through Phantom there is scene similar to the opening of American Beauty where we see a plastic bag 'dancing' in the wind. If you have never seen American Beauty take a listen to the first sentence in Katy Perry's hit single Fireworks, as the opening lyrics go... Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

Phantom is a deep reflective movie told in voice over about everyday problems human beings face. Humans are sometimes like phantoms drifting and wanting to start all over again... Whilst watching this very interesting movie I felt that I was on a small personal retreat thinking of the questions and ideas being talked about throughout the movie. Although the whole movie is voice over I was never bored as the topics brought up are immensely interesting and thoughtful. The direction is superb and the electronic soundtrack which reminded me of Lost in Translation plays beautifully along to relax your senses and think of what has just been said.

The title Phantom suits perfectly for this movie, everyone one day or another has experienced problems of family, money or work. We sometimes find our inner self talking to what we should do to face these problems. what will our next step be? what is our main purpose in this world? These are questions that everybody has asked himself. The solution to a lot of these problems that sometimes make us want to give up is one single word...hope.. as nobody knows what tomorrow might bring.

I highly recommend this movie either as a movie to experience alone or as a movie to watch and discuss in a group. It's an honest movie that looks at life and makes you feel that your personal problems are not your's only or that you are maybe living in a much better world, that you take for granted everyday! I would rate this movie a good 8/10.

Visually stunning ! and socially relevant...

[tisapityshes · 10/10 · 11 September 2013]

"Phantom" is a rather strange film. It's the story of a girl who spends a night with her boyfriend and they talk about various stuffs. But to summarize the story of "Phantom" is completely pointless. This film is like those movies that when summarized, you don't know nothing about the movie, because they are much more than just a story. Like movies such as "2001, A Space Odyssey", "The Tree of Life", "Wings of Desire" and so on... In the same way, "Phantom" is a film-experience. This is by no means a traditional movie! The most striking point is that all dialogues are voice-over, as if the couple was recorded while talking. The dialogues are very interesting. They talk about the difficulties of earning money, about the crisis, but also about family, love, identity, etc.. It actually made me think about my own life.

And while they talk, we can see shots of the couple or places in Tokyo or various scenes. Visually the film is a pure wonder ! If you like (and look for) movies with a brilliant cinematography, you mustn't miss this one. The style of this movie is groundbreaking. A kind of experimental surreal movie with an astonishing cinematography.

A good surprise from an underground movie I expected nothing from.

We're all phantoms

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 10/10 · 4 November 2013]

One of the greatest surprises of the year, "Phantom" is an experience to be seen and felt by everyone who strives to see something unique in terms of film and life experiences. It's an honest observation on the human condition, reflecting on situations that in one way or the other we can truly say: we've all been there. Cogito ergo sum! I think, therefore I am. From ages ago to many distant centuries to go, people will always try to find answers to their existence, comforting reasons or not on why life has to be the way it is, or how can one change things. Internal questioning, sometimes sharing with someone who may provide a different perspective; if not, at least we have a good talk. And that's what this movie offers.

"Phantom" revolves around a Tokyo couple (Yuki Fujita and Masato Tsujioka) spending a sleepless night talking about who they are, the problems they face, trying to find a meaning for what they're going through. Most of the time it's the girl who exposes her views on life, her problems and obstacles she faces while finding ways to pay her rent, or understand the world around her. The boyfriend seems less worried about everything and acts supportive of her, sometimes joking around to ease their mood.

As images we barely see them with each other, instead we follow them having solitary moments, walking alone in the city, conflicted with what they see. It's like those moments you have when you're going from one place to another, on your way to school or work, just observing people, reactions, situations, peculiar acts and your mind goes in several directions. We are reminded of the many contemplative shots Sofia Coppola and Terrence Malick use in their works mixed with the persistent dialog of the main characters in the background, almost a Godard style but less political and more down to earth. The director's choice in doing this instead of a filmic play trapped in the same place is an excellent and cautious choice, even more surprising for a foreign director to present a different culture in the way they perceive themselves: as called in Japan, Ma (emptiness). The space in between images, fragments in quietude, empty but full of meaning, it's there with a purpose. All of those give a sense of time and place and where people are. The technique is growing stronger lately and of the few films I've seen this year that used this dream-like style with off-screen dialogs, this one used the best.

Though the place chosen to be set was Japan, the movie's proposition and ideals resonate in all over the world, a great example of a genuine universal cinema that breaks barriers and reaches everyone, everywhere. Real and straight-forward in its questionings, one feel easily connected with those characters and their visions of world, as if they were taking many of your thoughts from your head. We spend sleepless nights imaging why we're here, what we're going to do with our lives, and we felt exactly like the phantoms described by the woman here (sorry I won't spoil the meaning of it). With such a higher sense of identification, even if we don't get no answers and no solutions to the problems presented, at least we can say: it's the same struggle everywhere and we're not alone. Just extremely separated for many reasons, far away yet so close.

It reveals plenty about life, our anguish, fears and desires, happiness, misery, evolution, growth, the communication we have with others and ourselves, the many stages of what makes us humans. For a first time work, Mr. Jonathan Soler accomplished the feat of a cinema giant and I'm definitely looking forward for his next projects. His direction of actors is very impressive, taking the best of his actors. Fujita's voice was like music for the ears, filled with emotion. Complex yet simple, beautiful yet saddening, that's art echoing life as it is. 10/10

A Deep Film Indeed

[ladymidath · 10/10 · 2 November 2013]

When I was given the link to watch Phantom, I have to admit to being curious about this film. I love independent movies that don't follow the same tired old formula and actually have something to say. If you like films like that, then this movie is for you. Phantom is an unusual film in that there is a lot of blurred shots and voice over dialogue, but for this film, it works. Two people, a young man and a young woman, boyfriend and girlfriend spend the night talking. They examine what it means to be a part of life. They examine modern society and their place within it. This film studies not only connection, but disconnection. How we can be part of a whole, but still apart from it. The shots of scenes around the city of Tokyo were both beautiful and poignant. Shots of modern buildings juxtaposed by bags of garbage. Bright modern places but scenes of homeless sleeping on those same streets. This movie is not afraid to raise questions such as, where do we fit in society? Do our jobs, our wealth and our possessions define us? What actually defines success? Wealth and ambition, or happiness? Are we all just consumers or can we be more? This is a quiet film, not one that screams, 'I have a message,' but one that takes you gently by the hand and shows you. Producer and Director, Jonathan SOLER has done a wonderful job creating a truly intriguing film that will have you examining your own life and asking some important questions such as, is this what life is, or can there be more?

Zombie Society

[Thorsten_B · 7/10 · 10 November 2013]

It's night. A girl and her boyfriend can't sleep. After a day of unsuccessful attempts to find a proper job, they don't want to suffer life "as it is" without having at least tried to change something. But before you can change, you have to reflect, and that's what they do during the course of this small-scale, but yet enchanting art-house picture. First in their bedroom, and then wandering around the streets, the two of them exchange their perspectives on life in the big city, as part of a crowd, as a small wheel in the capitalistic machine, and ultimately as seekers for happiness and relieve. The dialogue is sort of a voice-over-soundtrack to more or less blurred images of anonymous metropolitan images, which are from time to time interrupted by a return of the camera eye to the couples' bedroom where the exchange continues – or still takes place, since it is unclear where they are positioned precisely. While the girl outlines her problems with having an identity in a world where identities don't mean a lot any more, the boy takes the position of an almost Socratian questioner, leading her to refine her views. While in one way sharing the idea that something can be done to alter society – a society more dead than living, more mechanical than solidary –, they also share the notion that exploitation (to some people, by some people) is inevitably an (albeit ugly) part of the way people use to live nowadays. Buy isn't the real tragedy the fact that while noting that and trying to escape to a better way of life, you doing nothing more than reassuring the system? Questions are tough in this one, a film where an average couple takes on a sort of "amateur sociological perspective" to question the world they live in. Not easy, but appealing nonetheless.

Finding Your Way...as a Phantom

[simplisticreviewsblogspo · 8/10 · 4 November 2013]

Review by Matt:

What is a phantom really? Is it from the opera? Is it something that Ben Affleck has to fight? Or is it a superhero in a purple suit that punches criminals with a ring shaped like a skull? I mean, you could be right if you guessed any of these, however, there is a deeper meaning behind the word phantom. In the appropriately titled film "Phantom" from director Jonathan Soler, the question is asked; "Are we all phantoms of this world, and do we simply go by living without a trace to others around us?"

"Phantom" is the story of a Japanese couple having a late night conversation about life. Neither character has a name, which reinforces the "phantom" concept in the film. None of their conversation happens in dialogue, but rather in narration which deals with everything from not having enough money to pay rent, to moving back in with a parent to, yes, farting. Scenes seem to be played back in forms of flashbacks, done in a very art-house style.

There are numerous themes in "Phantom" namely loneliness, self-doubt, and the concept of relying on another person for support. Both characters are comfortable around each other and share doubts and fears, the female character more so than the male character. As their conversation escalates, more philosophical elements come into play.

The female character references the work of Fumiko Hayashi, namely her work "Hōrōki" a female coming-of-age story which was later adapted into the anime "Wandering Days." Would I call "Phantom" a feminist film, not really, but rather I think it deals with the theme that women have it harder in Japan, which is largely a society run by men with women acting in the subservient role. The male character is a little more oblivious to this concept as he tries to tell her that she can do anything, which shows his nativity to a women's plight in Japanese culture. Granted, it's much better for a women in Japan than it was 100 years ago, but it takes a while to break boundaries and taboos that women are equals in a male dominated society.

Another reference is made to "Kanikōsen" a book about the hardship of Japanese crabbers and their struggle against exploitation. With young people these days taking any job, which might be well below their education level, you can see how this book would have an effect on any young person who thinks they are being taken advantage of in hard economic times.

The other important element of "Phantom" is the conversation of being a ghost versus a phantom. When you think of ghosts, you think of people that have died, but continue to inhabit a material world. A ghost leaves it's mark and continues to live, at times interacting with the living, depending on who you speak to. A phantom, on the other hand, can be a spirit that still inhabits the living realm, but no one is aware of it's presence. This is the plight of our two central characters; they feel like they are being ignored from a societal perspective and are invisible to the world, and aren't leaving a mark. With a global economy still reeling, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle, and with more a more college graduates without jobs and burdened by debt, it's becoming harder to leave a mark. Sure, you can take out more loans to do what you really want to do (the female character mentions that she wants to open a bar), but it's a scary proposition to someone who lacks the self-confidence, and more importantly, money, to make their hopes and dreams come true.

Overall, "Phantom" is an interesting exercise. It's shot in a dream- like way with plenty of sub-text about the living poor and a disenfranchised youth that isn't limited to Japan. The two actors, Yuki Fujita and Masato Tsojioka, give convincing performances as two people who trust each other and are each other's support structure, but the acting looses something when all the dialogue is done as narration. It's interesting and reinforces the concept of being lost, but it becomes distracting throughout the entirety of the film.

Soler has a good eye for finding something out of nothing. His vision of Japan is interesting as it focuses on things that I'm sure many Japanese take for granted during their daily routine. The mundane if you will, that we often overlook. I'm not a Japanophile by any means, so I'm sure that many of the shots have more meaning, but at times it seems like art, for art's sake. Will "Phantom" start a revolution? Probably not, but looking at it from a Western perspective, I believe it captures universal angst for most young people who are trying to be heard in a world that has it's ears plugged.

Check out more reviews @ simplisticreviews.blogspot.com

not a phan of Phantom

[franco-26 · 2/10 · 1 November 2013]

Phantom is an odd film that doesn't make good use of the medium. Dialogue is limited to the two protagonists and is disembodied from the action on screen. The distracting voice overs gives one the impression that one is simply watching the opening sequence and that soon, real soon, the real film begins. Well don't hold your breath.

Unless you read/understand Japanese, you will be subjected to poorly crafted subtitles that again, distract from the visuals. A music soundtrack is almost entirely lacking and the film would have benefited from some action synchronized to a musical beat, or to ambient sounds, or to anything, dialogue even.

I couldn't get past the first 30 minutes.

Ugetsu, Kagemusha, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ikiru, Kuroneko...now there is some great Japanese cinema.

Videotrack to an inner conversation

[arnoldko · 8/10 · 10 November 2013]

For me, a film works if it manages to silence my relentless need for analysis and makes me to just go with the flow. This movie did the trick.

It is about a girl going to bed, after an unfulfilling days work, having a dream / an inner conversation about her lonely life.

(Many reviewers here belief the guy you see her with to be an actual character, but I think he is just a phantom friend. If you listen to what she says, you'll notice she yearns for someone to be around, to listen to her.)

The cinematographic deal of this film is that the sound track is detached from the video track. It's the sound track that is in the lead, and the video track takes what normally is the role of the sound track: a supporting role. The sound track mainly is this inner conversation, and sometimes some electronic music.

Now, what really did the trick for me was that the well formulated spoken word was in Japanese, and the subtitles in English, so that as a Dutchman I had to deal with three languages. That clogged my mind, opening it up to the images and the sounds.

Excellent debut

[Cosmoeticadotcom · 8/10 · 3 November 2013]

Soler does not fall into many of the pop cultural traps of a young director, and the two most immediate predecessor debuts that this film most reminds me of are David Gordon Green's George Washington and Steve McQueen's Hunger. Hopefully, as Soler matures as a director, he emulates the arc of McQueen, who seems well on his way to being the chief rival to Nuri Bilge Ceylan as the world's greatest living BIG IDEAS director, rather than Green, whose early promise gave way to one of the most depressing and shocking cinematic sellouts of the last few decades. Like Green's debut film, Soler uses shadow and light, canted angles, and disembodied voices, as well as an odd score, punctuated with silence and ambient noise. Like McQueen, Soler's film dares not to follow conventional narrative flow....

Other influences in the film (or accidental references) include Godfrey Reggio's Quatsi films, in a tunnel sequence; Roman Polanski's Repulsion, in blurred pans of room include mundanities- clothes, books, etc.; Stanley Kubrick's Killer's Kiss in some shots involving mannekins (as well as shots of city streets at night). Other less obvious influences include the email's claims for Chris Marker's Sans Soleil, Alain Resnais's Last Year In Marienbad, and Herk Harvey's Carnival Of Souls- one of the underrated films that deal with loneliness- also shot on a next to nothing budget. Soler not only wrote and directed the film, shot in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, but produced, shot, edited, and (presumably) scored it.

In short, Phantom is a very good, to excellent film, and a noteworthy debut. It makes me feel guilty that, had the email arrived at a different time, I might have, due to the ego suck of so many bad artists, missed this promising work of art. If Soler can make the leap up from creative pastiching of excellent forebears, and inject more of his own vision- and potential and vision are the two key words here- then his next film could put him in the McQueen-Ceylan range. But, as I don't wanna jinx him into a fate as the Continent's David Gordon Vert, let's just all keep quiet (as a phantom?) about those two words, and wait, and see.

Ssshhh….

Full review at http://www.cosmoetica.com/B1384-DES935.htm

"Without noticing it, maybe we all become phantoms" !

[elshikh4 · 4 November 2013]

Since the start of the 1950s, Hollywood knew that the Rock 'n' Roll generation would be big part of the moviegoers. That became a method since the late 1970s, with the super success of Star Wars (1977), to promulgate that the viewers between 18 and 32 years old are Hollywood's target audience. Hence let's make as voluminous and happy dreams as we can to entertain them extremely, so they can escape from their daily life's problems. Now, this small film from Japan is for that very demographic, yet for making them face their daily life's problems.

You won't find actual drama, or conflicting characters, just long dialogue between a young woman and man, and successive images from a city, however loaded with heartfelt pains.

Phantom undresses the young person's self in a big contemporary city, Tokyo in the film, for nothing but undressing the human in today's developed civilization. It has great eye for the little details; whether in the urban life or the intellectual or psychological reaction towards it. The film's 2 talking characters express their deepest urban fears (forgetting her name; since everybody stopped calling her with. Or being chased by zombies; that don't take over him completely) which overall mirrors the fear of losing individualism, rather humanity, in - and by - the big city.

The script is extremely precise when it comes to count fears like these, or discussing them simply. And with fears come hopes, which the script deals with in the same way. The "she" character needs just a special dream, decent job, and some love. Because without them, she's a speedily aging ghost, doomed by not feeling anything or being felt by anyone.

The 2 characters are unnamed for more than one reason. Firstly, to feel yourself in them. And secondly, to indicate how crashed they are by that city, which almost obliterates their name or existence. There are many clever lines to root these meanings like "The real difficulty is to find a place in a world that does not necessarily have one for us". Or "Without noticing it, maybe we all become phantoms". As a whole, the dialogue is memorable because of its truthfulness, and the way it philosophizes the urban tragedy in what seems as another ordinary chatter.

The script wasn't the film's only achievement, since the image proved a lot of uniqueness. Unlike another "long conversation of a film", like Before Sunrise (1995), the image runs in poetic mood some times, dream-like mood for other times. It managed to be as lost as the characters in that zombie city, embodying the hiding of the human; where all the dialogues are off screen, and most of the faces' shots are foggy, declaring frankly that the real "antagonist" in this "drama" is that 100 % material civilization, which feeds on souls by its wild rules.

I highly liked the sight of the 2 leads in many shots as random red lines or faint light pulses in the dark; translating the case of warm shadows which they turned into. The faceless lifeless mannequins are the most nightmarish reflection of that city's sociality in the film's conscience. Relating the conversation to one night, while seeing the 2 characters in night and daylight shots, says much about having the same conversation, thoughts, and feelings, for everyday. And while the plastic bag's dance in American Beauty (1999) represents a sense of rare natural beauty which you witness accidentally, the same dance here represents the fear of being weak, lonely and lost.

Yuki Fujita and Masato Tsujioka delivered sensitive vocal performance. They could bring up the innocence, confusion, and loneliness of "she" and "he". The pace is captivatingly meditative. The few yet fearful music tracks, being shown on long shots for murky streets and mute buildings, pictured the gravity of a city that absorbs its people's humanity. And you have to love the final optimistic message "Things will work out"; indirectly, that's what will make this film a classic to watch for some!

As for the downsides, I have to say that the visuals required more study. For such a meaty dialogue, it wasn't enough to display expired machines and men (the street hobos), running strangers with no faces, or off telephone receiver. Undoubtedly the image was poor compared to the dialogue at times.

The image in the first 5 minutes was so primitive I was about to leave my seat. I believe it's not right to lose the attention of your viewer that early. Otherwise that was made for shock value, exclusively for the used-to-Hollywood-movies viewers, to alert them that "this is something else", however a bit loudly I think!

I hated the dialogue's relief points, since they were nearly all nasty, limited in matters like farting or sniffing butts. And - if you're accustomed to my reviews - you'll axiomatically know that I hate nudity, so I hated the movie's couple of nude moments.

Phantom pulled off being simple, deep, and fascinating. If you're a young man or woman who lives in a big city; you have to meet your reality, and - more - yourself in this film. It warns you of losing yourself to your big city, transforming into a ghost (maybe the "he" character is actually a night phantom since the start!). Therefore, you need this film, not to change your habituation of watching usual Hollywood movies, but to change your life itself.

Tokyoites yearn for connection

[Davidon80 · 9/10 · 3 November 2013]

Young Japanese girl and her boyfriend talk the night away about loneliness, mild depression, money and hopes and dreams.

This is an interesting experience, the movie seems more suited to a modern art museum then a cinema. The narrative so to speak is centered around a conversation the lead characters are having in a darkened room, this is presented through voice over and then there are visuals interspersed of Tokyo, all of the visual anchors of Japan are displayed: subway lines, Shibuya, kinetic lighting, neon streets, darkened alley ways. This is all very well shot, and adds an eloquent beauty to this movie, suggesting disquiet and a sense of isolation.

The appeal of this movie lies in its honesty and sincerity, there is a sense that the dialogue comes from a honest source, and I can see that the movie is an allegory of many a Tokyo-dwellers internal monologue. As someone who has lived in Tokyo for a few years I do understand and in many ways connect with the existential dread that this movie depicts of life in Japan, we are indeed alone with everybody, and we do feel genuine fear and uncertainty at our most vulnerable moments, which ironically those moments being when traversing the crowded city scape of urban Tokyo.

Many a cinematic nod to David Lynch, Wong Kai Wai, Jean Luc Goddard and perhaps even Terrence Mallick. Perhaps a little raw in places, and in some cases too real, but it should be applauded for it's style and I hope to see more from Stoler.

Wish I saw the whole film

[paul-927-713312 · 21 March 2014]

I wasn't able to sit thru the whole movie in one sitting and alas the password changed before I could get back to view it. But I have to say that from what I saw it was a very well planned/designed/produced movie. The movie materials from their web site and other things presented gave me a very interesting perspective on a movie that doesn't have dialogue - as in the mouths are moving to the sound -- everything is off-camera. I haven't thought of that idea for doing a movie. If ever it comes along for viewing publicly (or the film owners would like my review of the second half and can get me a new password) I'd like to see it thru to the end. Thanks for inviting me to view the preview.