-Allison McCulloch

179 mins. | Japan | 2019

“A movie can change the future if not the past.”

Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s final film is a zany singing and dancing joyride into the past and future that any cinephile would enjoy. I was moved by the film setting out to prove that movies are a cutting edge time machine. I suppose looking at the above quote that someone could be inspired by cinema and would be prompted to change their life for the better. In this film, characters jump into the movie screen and sometimes out of the movie screen. Sometimes, they’re able to go back in time, prompting characters to avoid certain events like Hiroshima. One of my favorite parts was when the characters question being in black and white with subtitles. At first the idea of war movies as entertainment is introduced, but it soon takes a stand as a staunch anti-war film, showing the brutality of war and how unnecessary it truly is.

Rating: 7/10

In cinemas: New York at The Metrograph on October 20th, Los Angeles at The Lumiere Cinema on October 29th (co-presented by Acropolis Cinema).

More regional dates to follow including: Phoenix, Tulsa, Seattle, New Orleans, Portland, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver (Canada) and more.

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