A couple days ago I saw a Japanese movie called
Dragon Head, a movie about a couple of teenagers trying to survive the world after a civilization-ending cataclysm. I found it a flawed but worthwhile film. The exact cause of the cataclysm isn't exactly spelled out, but it reminded me of The Road, everything was getting buried under ash and it wasn't really explained.
I would say its biggest flaw is it had an annoyingly whiny protagonist, I suppose that would be justified, after all, how would a middle class high school kid deal with a sudden end of everything and everyone he cared about. I would probably do the same or worse. Another flaw is none of the other characters are well developed, they are all introduced and forgotten about rather quickly, and this is due to the episodic nature of the movie. The episodic structure wasn't quite right for this movie, It felt like it tried to fit in too much into a 2 hour film. That isn't to say the movie was rushed, actually the pace was on the gradual side. It just didn't do a lot with the people in it. To be honest, based on the title I was expecting a more action oriented film, but while this movie has a few action scenes, it is not at all an action movie. Its pacing is closer to that of a horror film.
On the positive side, the apocalypse was appropriately devastating and also surreal. Although we do not witness the initial carnage, the depiction of the mass wreckage aftermath of civilization was constant throughout the film, and had production values that exceeded my expectations. It wasn't on the level of a 200 million dollar Hollywood movie, but it was well beyond that of a Syfy channel quickie. I would say it was on the level of something like the Mutant Chronicles. It was also quite a bit more grim than I was expecting. Like The Road, the search for food and water was constant. Unlike many Hollywood movies, Dragon Head takes the desperate plight of the characters seriously. I mentioned before this post-apocalyptic world had a surreal edge. Whatever caused the destruction has also caused most of the survivors to lose rational thought, and many of them behave bizarrely. This leads to some strange encounters which gives rise to the film's episodic plotting and also a source of horror.
Anyway, I would say if you are looking for a languid and surreal post-apocalyptic movie heavy on striking visuals but light on exposition, Dragon Head may fit the bill. However If you are looking for logical explanations or even just a character arc, you will likely find this movie frustrating.
10-13-2013, 02:49 PM
