Umoregi (2005) The Buried Forest

Directed by Khei Oguri

Starring Tadanobu Asano (Zatoichi, Vital)

Beautiful cinematography, gorgeous lighting and scenery but shallow, vapid and totally nonsensical.

Three girls in a small village in Japan start telling each other stories and gradually the stories take lives of their own, the premise is interesting covering everything from the fantastical to Japanese traditions but the way its constructed makes it alll seem indigestible and flatulent. 

After watching the film I felt as though someone had strung together a collection of deleted scenes, nothing meant anything or went anywhere. This is the sort of film that could put someone off Japanese cinema because unfortunately its just a waste.

One of the most disappointing Japanese films Ive seen, not the worst but one with great potential let down by the lack of any sort of character development or structure. I really wanted to like it, Im a sucker for artistic lighting, beautiful scenery, slow storylines and loose plot frameworks and Japanese cinema in general but this did nothing for me. 

What a shame.

Cheers Trev.

Seen at the Cardiff Screen Festival, a UK Premiere.