Moeru butsuzô ningen (2013)

Moeru butsuzô ningen: Directed by Ujicha. With Nao Hanai, Chisako Hara, Moeka Haruhi, Shunsuke Hirai. There is a series of Buddha statue thefts in Kyoto. Beniko, a high school girl, gets the Buddha statue at her family’s temple stolen and has her parents killed at the same time. Beniko hears from Enju, her parents’friend, that a robbery group called SEADDATTHA is the one who killed her parents, and feels the strong urge for vengeance. Enju offers Beniko to live with him since she has no place to go. She wanders into Enju’s secret room and meets an ugly creature that looks like a fusion of her parents and Buddha statue…

“Cut-out puppet style with combination of gekianimation telling a Buddhist Wizard of Oz story with Cronenberg-style body horror and overtly inspired by the works of Man Gataro and HR Giger-esque characters. Without a doubt, Ujicha signs an artistic work as rich as it is. A unique delirium staged both marvellous and nightmarish. The film follows Beniko who gets dragged into an uncanny tale and wants to rescue her parents. She finds shelter in a sanctuary and begins to realize that her situation is bleak and more disorienting than she can comprehend. Fascinating, and it only gets better and more interesting weaving the story of the Buddha thefts and its connection to Benikou0026#39;s family. This story is so crazy that I imagine it was penned in a setting locked up in a smoke-filled room coming up with one crazy idea after another. Balancing, sometimes skilfully and sometimes not, between flashbacks, spectacle, reality and illusion, the undoubtedly ambitious direction always keeps its goal clear. Ujicha plays with the characters and composes sequences as weird as they are surprising, and many details make sense. One of the most incredible scenes, however, is a sequence when a dog (Big Bang) joins the tale, itu0026#39;s enduring, the appearance of Benikou0026#39;s Grandmother is also one of strangest moment in the film. In short, this is a movie you donu0026#39;t just like, you come to experience, it becomes part of you. As a viewer you only think: WTF.. Itu0026#39;s MORBIDLY BEAUTIFUL!!”