Institute History
Description
The film is set in Shibaura, the semiderelict, "waterfront" area of Tokyo where Akagi Masashi, known as Zazie, lives after five years on the move. Once he was the singer with a popular rock band, but suddenly he decided to abandon that life. Now he spends his time recording his own life on video. However, people won't leave him alone. The punky members of his former band want him to rejoin them for a reunion concert. His ex-girlfriend, Megumi, can't quite give him up. Office girl Kyoko hangs around, too, and art student Bun, waitressing in the "Berry" snack bar, looks to him for "something wonderful." Most disturbing of all, Zazie's "greatest fan," the taciturn and vaguely threatening Sunada, seems to watch him day and night. But Zazie yields to no one, commits to nothing. On the one side, mounting expectation and burgeoning fantasy. On the other, indecision, introspection and silence. Something's gotta give .
Comment: Riju's Zazie is a strong and innovative film. Its improvised feel belies the intricacy of its structure, which mixes sequence shots; video inserts, monologues, extended dialogues and bursts of noisy music. It's a film about irresistible forces meeting an immovable object, and it's Riju's control of the proceedings that makes the meeting cataclysmic.