[Review]GAICHU - Harmful Insect

Well, I'd heard a lot about this film (okay, I'd read its name in the comments section of Number Girl's I Don't Know, which is essentially this film's token song...)...and so decided to give it a watch. Sure, a lot of people seemed to hate it, but other people utterly raved about it. So. After about an hour searching I managed to find the *one* working download link on the entire internet, and here we are.

The plot is, um, lacking to say the least. Basically, without giving too much away, it's about the life of a girl named Sachiko Kita (played by a young Aoi Miyazaki, a wonderfully talented actress), whose dad is dead and whose mother tried to kill herself, and how it all falls apart through a series of misfortunes. She roams the streets. She skives school. She starts going back to school...then gets knocked right back down again.

The execution is utterly bizarre. For the most part, there is next to no speech- this film isn't very interested in revealing any details to the audience, which whilst it starts off intriguing, becomes slightly annoying after a while. Humour, desperation, and the outright strange all sit together in this film...but none really affect you, as the film is curiously emotionless. A strange concept I know, and one thats hard to describe without you actually watching this.

The film as a whole though? I really wanted to love it. yet... it was so...emotionless, where it almost became dull at times. Maybe I was expecting too much out of this, but it all seemed so bleak and without any feeling whatsoever. Then again, perhaps that is what the director was going for- looking at how mundane everyday life is, and how ruined Sachiko's emotional state is.

Well, would I recommend it? If you have a lot of patience, it may well be an enjoyable watch. For me however, the film was average at best, with perhaps a few standout moments holding it together and keeping me interested.

Now, this film is surely heading towards the C territory, I hear you say. But no. This film has a certain something, a certain power, which'll only hit you a while after the credits have rolled, and for that reason:

A