Funky Forest: The First Contact (2005)

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

If you've read the other reviews here (and elsewhere), you get the idea. It's a combination of loosely connected segments that are funny, surreal, and nonsensical. But, of course, it's much more than that, despite any of the directors' assertions that it's a meaningless bit of fun.So if it's not meaningless, what is it? I think the clue is in the title. My dictionary says funky means 1) strong musical rhythm, 2) modern and stylish in an unconventional way, and 3) strongly musty. That would describe this forest, though it's important to remember that you can't always see the forest for the trees. (For non-English speakers, "can't see the forest for the trees" is an aphorism meaning you don't always realize you are in a forest because there are so many individual trees to look at. Or something like that.)In this case, the Funky Forest is our culture, particularly our cinematic and pop culture. I'm American and this movie is Japanese, so for me, the pop culture references were mostly inaccessible. I recognized a lot of stylistic content from Japanese TV and cartoons, but I had the feeling the movie would have had much more depth for me if I'd grown up Japanese.However, the cinema references are more easily grasped; the work of several film directors sprung to mind as I watched this. At the top of the list, I'd put David Lynch, for serious-looking, slightly surreal scenes with absurd dialog. The creatures in Forest suggested more Lynch than Cronenberg to me. Tarentino's mixed-up, episodic, circular story-telling is used. Speaking of circular-story telling, there is a funny comment on Rashomon too.Fellini. Not for unusual-looking people, because there isn't much of that. But because he also took bits of dialog that could have been or were actually from real life and put them into contexts that made them seem absurd if not incomprehensible. The visuals of Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini's first color film, came to mind. And, I noticed, as with Fellini's 8- 1/2, Funky Forest only makes sense by being self-referential. What makes Funky Forest somewhat unique is the way it explodes familiar if not clichéd movie scenes. Dialog that starts off mundane can soon become absurdly confrontational, often by one character focusing on some bit of minutia that, if the rules of social convention were followed, should have been overlooked or ignored. Happily for us, social convention is thrown out the window here, with wonderfully silly results.I have no doubt that in future this film will be the subject of more than one Phd thesis. And the analysis will probably be fascinating. In the meantime, it really isn't necessary to understand what's going on to appreciate this movie. In fact, I think that's the point. In reverse. If you don't understand what's going on, you may not have a good time.Me, I enjoyed this film enormously, and I'd love to own the soundtrack.

Funky Forest: The First Contact is a movie that defies description. It is so uncategorizable, so jaw-droppingly strange, so unlike anything you've ever seen before that you can't help but either laugh and/or shake your head in disbelief for most of its 2 and a half hour running time. The movie has no plot. Instead there are a series of loosely interconnected scenes involving various characters who say and do the strangest things. I was particularly fond of the three female co-workers who visit a spa and take turns telling each other hilariously inane stories. On top of that there is uber-hottie Tadanobu Asano, bursts of animation, unexpected song and dance numbers and some truly disturbing sci-fi elements. For the sheer weirdness factor alone, this is essential viewing.

...not to say it isn't without flaw, but this movie has a certain something that is somehow defining of the viewer's personality. I could never be friends with a person who doesn't like this movie. If you feel the same, watch this on every first date, talk about it afterward and it could prove to be a useful tool for screening out would-be suitors. Among my very short list, Cha no Aji also received a 10 in my book. The soundtrack CD also features well-suited weirdness. Little Tempo is the name of the dub band frequently heard throughout both Naisu no Mori and Cha no Aji. I would also recommend Frog River and the Grasshoppa! short film series.

To say Funky Forest: The First Contact is a bad movie is an understatement of incredible proportions. I can really get into a good art house film, even a surreal and twisted romp like El Topo, Naked Lunch, and Survive Style 5+, because those movies actually have something worth discussing when the credits roll.FFFC attempts at every avenue to be this deep and intellectual, essentially there is no substance in this movie. This movie is badly done, the visuals in this movie are not inspiring, the dialog is worse, the musical numbers destroy this movie.. I chuckled for GUITAR BROTHERS, but that was immediately wiped out by something completely unnecessary, and irrelevant. It attempted to be deep and meaningful I think, but its just pretentious disoriented nonsense. Freshman film students without a camera could craft something more interesting.Guitar Brothers and the stand up routines in between skits get 1 point each, everything else is just badly paced, pseudo-creative, heavy handed attempts at being AS good as films by other REAL directors like, Sogo Ishii, David Lynch, and Jodoworsky. Give me a break. I am convinced that people that rave about FFFC are doing so because they have no idea of what they saw, because it was nothing but mild pertinent statements here and there mixed with stupidity and blended until you puke on your own shoes.This movie was an extreme disappointment, coming off the high that was Survive Style 5+, a film that actually has meaning, combined with excellent use of scenery, cinematography, catchy dialog, funny moments, good soundtrack, excellent performances, fantastic pacing and flow. FFFC features the exact opposite in every way, boring scenery (20 minutes staring at a bland beach at night? a completely white stage? Alien balls floating in white space? a dinky school hallway and then a... school hallway?), terrible cinematography, forgettable dialog, nothing funny or humorous, save the fact you just wasted your life for two hours, soundtrack?, amateurish performances, uneven, disjointed, and often flat out dragging pacing, zero flow whatsoever.There are those that claim this is what makes FFFC a great movie, that it is so unconventional at every turn that its pure genius. This is simply a way to stroke your own ego it seems, because "unpredictable" could be a good quality for a film if it wasn't coupled with "boring", "innane", and "terrible". Personally I have spoken with two people who admitted to me that FFFC was terrible when they left the theater, but overwhelming rave by art-house elitist made them watch the movie again and then come back to me with a... "Hey it was pretty good I liked it".I'm going to put my foot down, this movie is slop, I don't care if Roger Ebert says this film is the best thing he's ever watched since he lost his own virginity. "The Emperor's new cloak" I say... this movie is no way indicative of the other psychedelic/trippy films to come from Japan in the last 10 years. Taste of Tea, Party 7, and Kamikaze Girls are much better movies (even with a low budget), and none can honestly compare with Survive Style 5+. Watch FFFC only if your interested in making a pretentious pile of nothing on a shoestring budget.