It
is strange film theorists have not spent more time analyzing the connection
between genre cinema and experimental film. After all, to accept a postmodern
fantasia on anything approaching face value, you have to make similar or even
greater jumps as those required by fantastical cinema. Take this one. In many
ways, it would bear comparison to Kore-eda’s After Life, but the herky-jerky flow puts us in a completely
different headspace. In any event, those who seek death will eventually find it
in Sora Hokimoto’s Haruneko (trailer here), which screens
during the 2017 Japan Cuts Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.
The
Manager runs a coffee shop in the woods that attracts a steady clientele,
despite its remote location. After serving some rich looking French-press
coffee, “The Manager” will escort guests into the woods, where they dissolve
into sound vibrations. At least, that is the idea. Some guests, like the yakuza
on the run or the delusional father who just murdered his wife and daughter
might require a little coaxing. However, from a Karmic standpoint, it is
necessary for them to move on.
That
is the [relatively] clear-cut narrative part. Haruneko has no shortage of hallucinatory imagery that viewers
could mull over for years without fully parsing them. Of course, for some, that
is the charm of a film like this.
Haruneko is part of the experimental
focus at this year’s Japan Cuts, so its surreal sensibilities should not come
as a surprise. It is not for a mass audience, but the intimidated will miss out
on a terrific performance from young Ryuto Iwata as Haru, a little boy who
assists the manager with day-to-day chores and might also be a potential client,
as his mysterious sister was or will be.
