Pikunikku (1996)

Pikunikku: Directed by Shunji Iwai. With Chara, Tadanobu Asano, Koichi Hashizume, Naomasa Musaka. Believing that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Walking upon the tops of the walls of the city, they seek to find a picnic spot with the best vantage point to view the final event.

“Iwaiu0026#39;s Swallowtail and Love Letter are two of my favourite films. Asano and Chara are high calibre actors, and there are the stunning visual set pieces weu0026#39;ve come to expect from Iwai, including the most arresting, startling suicide death ever committed to celluloid, a thing of sheer beauty. Unfortunately, the story is just too flimsy. The characters are not developed beyond their prognosis; Asanou0026#39;s demon makes disturbing hallucinatory appearances, but apart from that back story the rest is just three mentally disturbed people walking (and walking, and walking…) on a wall. There seems to be a short version and an extended version kicking about – I had the extended version, and it felt long. This seems to work better as a short film. The pseudo-Christian references are lame, a bum note in an otherwise passable effort. Thankfully, Iwai paid more attention to script in his later outings. This early one is strictly for fans looking to chart the directoru0026#39;s development.”