Strange Circus (2005)

I had no idea what the movie was about, or even who the director was when I popped the DVD into the player. I like to go into these things cold, with no preconceived ideas.

So imagine my surprise.

What a disturbing movie. I figured pretty quickly it must have been a Sion Sono film, based on my limited exposure to his works. What sets up the plot is truly disturbing. After I got over the initial shocking elements, I figured my review score at about a "2." The parts that made sense were disturbing, and the parts that were not making sense, while well-shot, seemed pretentious. Like "let's make it more fantasy/dream-state to get some nods from the art-house crowd." I wasn't actively disliking it--just not really responding to either the "normal plot" or the "weird" stuff either. But it was growing on me a bit, and I was thinking, ehhh, maybe bump up to a "3" just for the gall of the subject matter.

Then, about an hour in, when the movie starts focusing on the lady author in the wheelchair and the group of editors. I kept wondering what the point was. A lot of things were not making sense and I was mentally picking apart the plot. Uh-oh, back down to 2 stars...and dropping.

But then...well...the last 30 minutes or so. Holy cow. Didn't see THAT coming! Or that. Or that! I was completely blindsided. I love it when a movie can do that to me. And unlike Audition (which I detested), I feel that the director earned every bit of the hoops I was falling through. Bravo! New interpretations of previous scenes--so delicious. I'm still not clear on a few things (and don't really care), and I do think Sono overplayed and overstayed his welcome a bit with what (to me) seemed to be forced ambiguities and fantasy sequences. But that aside, all in all I really enjoyed the ride. 4 stars. And if I were to ever watch it again, I'm guessing I'd add another half star since I could settle in and focus on some of the ephemeral parts a little more.