 GERORISUTO (1986) Just to clarify – I am aware there is also a twelve minute version of this movie. This thirty minute version is from the Unearthed Films Vimeo page, where you can watch for free if you want to check it out after the review! There’s something exciting – and perhaps a little daunting – about coming to a Film Gutter movie knowing nothing about it. It could be artsy, it could be an over-the-top b-movie, it could be an absolutely outrageous gorefest. And then again it could be something like Gerorisuto and fall dead centre in the ‘what the hell did I just watch’ camp. This one comes to us from acclaimed director Shinzo Fukui, probably best known for his neo-cyberpunk double-header of 946 Pinocchio and Rubber’s Lover. Of course, now I’ve conjured up those names I suppose I have to add those to the to be reviewed list. If you know anything about those films you’ll know Fukui is a pretty niche, cult sort of director, and this early short film pretty much shows all those traits. Admittedly he’s been rather quiet in more recent years, but this handful of movies alone cements him a special place in the hearts of many viewers. So, what of Gerorisuto? The story itself – slim through it might be – follows a young, unnamed female protagonist who roams the streets of an unnamed Japanese city. She appears to be terrified of the camera throughout, which could taken effectively one of two ways – some have speculated that this is some kind of stalker following her, while it’s also conjectured that this might be some sort of supernatural force than only she can see and no-one around her is aware of. She plays up the fear and the terror of it quite well, but ultimately it explains very little and remains pretty hard to get to the bottom of. There are a few scenes on the underground, and some clips of our female lead accosting men on the streets – maybe actors, maybe real people – which make up around half of the running time. There are two other scenes that make up the movie – one with our lead buying some ice cream before spitting it out pretty grossly, and a second more infamous scene of her throwing up for about ten minutes. I gather in the 12 minute version this one lasts a few minutes – which is a quarter of even that runtime – but this one it takes up a third of the length, which is rather too much. Of course it’s hard to find any viewing pleasure in this scene – in fact it’s unsurprisingly hard to stomach, and brought me back to bad memories of the Vomit Gore Trilogy. *Shudder* I’m not somebody who’s averse to movies being obtuse, or difficult, or requiring a fair wedge of interpretation. But for me there’s just not enough to latch onto here to really follow anything or to genuinely latch on emotionally to the singular main character. It just feels a bit too ‘art for art’s sake’ in this case. I’d also flag – and it might have been a computer glitch at my end – that the soundtrack seemed a bit out of sync, and went quite towards the finale, which did make it a little bit harder to connect with too. If you’re an absolutely completist of Japanese cult cinema, or a big fan of Fukui’s other work, you might find something to like here. Otherwise I think you can find better, even at this limited length. RATING: 3/10. I couldn’t call this one complete bottom of the barrel, but it does have all the hallmarks of a director’s very early work and lacks the refinement that went towards Fukui’s work being so popular in later years. The idea is one that could have worked, but it just sort of meanders and goes nowhere ultimately, and is definitely held back by an egregiously long vomiting scene that doesn’t add anything. If you want to check it out, as I say, you can swing by the Unearthed Films Vimeo page and see it for free – as well as having plenty of other movies you can rent or buy. By Alex Davis   |
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