Just when I thought I had seen all the crazy movies available at the NYAFF, along comes Symbol, an out-of-body afterlife-centric experience which, besides testing your patience, is one of the most surreal and existential films ever made. Starring acclaimed Japanese comedian/TV host Hitoshi Matsumoto, who also directs this odyssey into life after death, Symbol is a film filled wih equal parts of humor and dread. There’s no denying the fact that it will test your patience – especially the first hour. But just like a test of will, sticking through to the end is a reward worth the wait as Hitoshi transcends the slapstick humor with a visually surreal journey into the unknown.
Symbol opens, oddly enough, in rural Mexico, holding steadfast on a shot of a car driving down a long dusty road towards the camera while kicking up dust in its wake. This first shot is symbolic (see what I did there) of the entire film as a whole, in that if you don’t have patience with this film you will not be rewarded by the mood Hitoshi is creating. After this odd prologue sets up a fairly tame Nacho Libre-esque story about an out of shape Mexican wrestler named Escargot Man, preparing for a fight that his adorable son is worried about. Almost like a slap in the face, we are thrust into the personal prison of Matsumoto, who, wearing a really cool set of polka dot pajamas, awakens in a barren white walled room with no exit.
Suffice to say, this is where the film starts to get a little weird as Matsumoto, unsure of how he arrived in this room, begins to question the insanity of his situation. Plopping his head against one of the barren white walls, a small sculpture of what could be perceived as genitalia emerges from the void. Curious like a cat, Hitoshi is compelled to interact with the object and is bewildered to find that indeed it is a penis. But this isn’t just any penis, it’s one of hundreds belonging to cherubs trapped in the walls as they watch in twisted delight at Hitoshi squirming. After some experimentation, Hitoshi notices that touching the cherubs naughty parts elicits a material object to suddenly appear in the white room.
Symbol is an odd cinematic treasure, that can easily turn you off with the ennui of our protagonist before paying off in a 2001: A Space Odyssey metaphysical kind of way. The parallel story, jumping between a white room purgatory and Mexican wrestling story, is definitely jarring and perhaps the weakest link in this film. When the two stories collide, it feels dissonant and not necessarily relying on each other.
However, the real resonance for this film is the emotions it elicits through the acting and stunning imagery in the climax. Because the scenario is so absurd and bizarrely humorous, the film forces the audience to go into a place in their mind that is uncomfortable, making them root for Hitoshi only to find him continually trapped. If you can make it through to the end, Symbol definitely rewards its viewer for their patience which is a lesson that Hitoshi himself seems to want teach with this film.
8 out of 10.
What did you think of Symbol?