BUNRAKU: THE FILM BUFF BLOG REVIEW

The words "stunning", "spellbinding", and "revelation" are all terms that anyone who is critiquing a film should shun away from. However, in the case of Guy Moshe's BUNRAKU there are no more fitting words to describe this gem of a film.

The term "bunraku" comes from a 400 year old form of Japanese puppet theatre, and Moeshe uses this classic art form as a muse to paint us a lush visual universe set 400 years in the future, or past, or now... A universe made of origami and string, where guns are replaced by swords, where classic tales of good vs. evil are retold over and over, where killers must move with the lightness of Fred Astaire and strike like Bruce Lee in order to become the best.

BUNRAKU follows two heroes. First, there is the classic drifter character who is out for revenge, ripped right from the frames of some of Sergio Leone's best. The other hero is the honorable Japanese samurai come to reclaim a stolen family medallion as it is his fathers dying wish.
Both men have come to the same town, on the same train, unknowing that their destinies are intertwined.

You can tell Moshe is a giant fan of Leone and Kurosawa, the main characters here play out their fates just like Eastwood and Mifune. It is this dual storytelling that is one of the strengths of the film, the film changing tone constantly keeps you intrigued right through its two hour run time. If you happen to find the storytelling stiff at least you have something pretty to look at. The art design of the film is, yes... here goes, "stunning" to say the least. The entire film is one giant feast for the eyes, a myriad of colours and practical magic effects that transports you into this fantastic world. The action and fight sequences are heavily influenced by Broadway musicals and are both beautifully choreographed and brutal.

However, there are a few hiccups in the film that cut it short from being perfect. An unseen narrator is at times funny and informative yet for the most part the narrator's longer rants make the film start to feel more The Spirit than Sin City. There's also some secondary character arcs that feel unfinished. If these were left that way intentionally or not is a mystery but the film leaves us some messy holes that would have been better filled.... if you know what i mean. Case and point is Demi Moore's character who plays a woman who is being forced to be with the villian... or is she? She has a backstory that seems interesting and is presented in a 10 second animated segment that leaves a lot of room for questions. Her story is obselete by the end of the film and serves no purpose to the overall film. The same could be said about Woody Harrelson's bartender character, if it wasn't for the fact that he's just so much damn fun to watch.

Overall Bunraku is unlike anything you've ever seen. Where the story gets bogged down there are more than enough sequences that will leave you in awe to not mind so much. Josh Hartnett is fantastic in the lead and plays "the drifter" character like he deserves; dark and brooding. Gackt gives us the picture perfect honourable disciplined samurai. Together they make up any cinephiles cream dream duo.

BUNRAKU is a fantastic, beautiful, whimsical "revelation" of a film that has it's hiccups but overall is entertainment of the highest degree.

source: The Film Buff Blog