For
many fans, “anime” and “experimental” are two words that have no business
together, nor should they. However, the Japan Society will upend expectations
with the Experimental Spotlight: Anime
Vanguard program of animated shorts. Many are accomplished works, but they largely
depend on viewers having a taste for abstract imagery and their given
soundtrack music. The clear and distinctive exception is special festival guest
Onohana’s Ouch, Chou Chou (trailer here), which screens as
part of the avant-garde-ish shorts block at this year’s Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.
Aesthetically,
Onohana’s film is somewhat reminiscent of Bill Plympton’s work, at least initially,
but the narrative is closer to Oliver Sacks. Cabbage and Pea used to be close
friends until the former’s family relocated and they lost touch. The intervening
years were cruel to Pea, who was driven to attempt suicide by incessant
bullying. She would survive, but the trauma regressed her back to when she was
seven-years-old and best friends with Cabbage.
At
the invitation of Pea’s mother, Cabbage visits her damaged friend, rekindling
their friendship. Up to this point, the film is rather touching, but empathy
takes a dark turn when Cabbage essentially steps into Pea’s subconscious.
Although it is probably futile to closely analyze every surreal bit of imagery,
the strange cosmic visions that follow certainly convey a sense of Pea’s ailing
psyche.
