Film: Hospitalite
Director: Koji Fukada
Country: Japan
One of the things that I found most interesting about Hospitalite
is that although it is very bizarre at times, even farcical, it still
felt like quite a naturalistic, neutral film, probably because the
performances are kept nicely controlled. This naturalism draws you in
and engages you with the characters, meaning you are kept intrigued at
the havoc brought on to their lives.
Unlike
many films, I really could not tell where this was going, which
definitely made it feel original. You never really know where you are,
which leads to the slightly discomforting tone. In terms of films about
people meddling in other people's lives, the only two I could think of
were Amelie and Harry, He's Here to Help but it is more discomforting
than the former, and less sinister than the latter, and stranger than
both. Sometimes it can be unsatisfying to leave a film not being
entirely sure what on earth has just been going on - I still have no
idea quite what happened, but not in a confusing way, probably just more
in common with the central family who were almost certainly still
reeling from what hit them.
The film is dryly
amusing and a lot of fun, a lot of that coming from the excellent comic
pitch of the performances. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be an
allegory, but I was happy to take it at face value and can recommend it
as a very entertaining, interesting and individual film.
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