The Plot:
Frankly, there isn't one. Instead, we begin with a visit from the Mole Brothers, a white suited comedy team who seem more interested in insulting each other than making us laugh. Then a little girl envisions a fantasy world where she is master and homework is nonexistent. Three brothers, noted for being "unpopular with women" interact with each other in typical sibling ways, though one is inexplicably obsessed with his guitar. A former student and a young teacher play at having a fling, while the "Babbling Hot Springs Vixens" tell unusual stories of human fallibility. The previously mentioned instructor describes his dreams, while the Moles return to deliver - maternity style - their miniature friend from the orifice of an alien television. The horrors of high school homeroom are uncovered, while various polymorphous shapes and biological abominations demand intimacy and gratification. If it all sounds like David Cronenberg via Shinya Tsukamoto, you're only partially correct. Like Pee Wee's Playhouse soaked in blowfish venom, this is one filmic forest that truly lives up to its funky namesake.

The DVD:
Brilliant to look at, impossible to understand, Funky Forest: The First Contact, is like a resume reel for a group of struggling, soon to be discovered underground artists. It's a performance piece as a personal cry for help, the fever dream musings of men who should know better, understand little, and yet choose to pay attention to neither. It's experimental and exasperating, confusing and completely of its own. If you enjoy having your brain freaked as much as tweaked, if you don't care that linear narrative is addled or absent, if imagery and imagination move you - cinematically - as much as characterization and plotting, this film will definitely fit your aesthetic. But be warned, this is not an easy ride. Ishii, Ishimine, and Miki aren't out to open your eyes or show you the ugly underneath. Instead, they hope to free your mind, using visual flair and the jarring juxtaposition of form and function to broaden your horizons. And one does have to admit - it's a Heck of a ride.

At first, the over the top goofiness and incoherent shrillness are off-putting. The Moles are like prop comics who forgot their bag of tricks...or punchlines. They shout and stutter, playing on Asian stereotypes in an almost offensive manner. There are plenty of nods and winks to keep things in perspective, but it does start the film off on an odd footing. Then we get the weird animated battle between Little Hataru and some pulsating blob. Yet the ending turns out to be a jokey non-sequitor. The Unpopular with Women Brothers include a mature worrywart, an axe strumming hippy type, and a grade schooler who can't stop shoveling chocolate into his mouth. Their moments have an observational wit to them, that is, when Funky Forest doesn't overplay their part in the effort. Indeed, there are several sequences that go on for far too long. When we learn about the almost-affair between teacher Takefumi and a young student, we are intrigued. But then their storyline shifts into a nearly 40 minute musical pastiche, including numerous interpretive dance numbers and some Power Station like animation. By the end, we are desperate for a rationale.

By the time we reach the finish of Side A (like an album, the movie is divided in two with a near three minute intermission), we are spent - and Funky Forest still has 75 more minutes to go. The switch over sends in more illusions of body horror, homages to moments from Videodrome, a true slip into ultra-surrealism, and additional bumbling Brothers material. Like the ultimate experiment in motion picture one-upmanship, Ishii, Ishimine, and Miki seem to be challenging each other, pushing the very limits of their imagination and originality to come up with stranger and stranger set pieces. As the credits roll, we wonder what the purpose was, the point to all the madness and mayhem. With the frequent blackouts and introductory title cards, one envisions the pilot to some perverted primetime comedy cavalcade. There is a soiled sacrilegious SCTV appearance to everything Funky Forest: The First Contact attempts. For the most part, the concept works. As long as you don't demand that it make a lick of sense or stay within the bounds of reality, you'll be greatly rewarded - creeped out and made nutty, but rewarded nonetheless.

The Video:
Offered to DVDTalk in a DV-R screener only version of the film, it is safe to say that this reviewer has no idea what the final product, when available, will look like (a two disc set should hit on March 18). The image here was amazing - bright and shiny, colorful and bold. Details are dense, and the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is terrific. However, the caveat must continue. A preview copy of the film itself was all that was provided, and it had some technical/buggy issues. Nothing about this disc screams store shelf availability.

The Sound:
The audio situation is equally up in the air. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix is solid, the music benefiting most from the speaker specific format. The dialogue is easily discernible and the English subtitles clearly visible and easy to read.

The Extras:
None - and that's a shame. Something like Funky Forest: The First Contact demands context to help us clueless Americans figure out its motives. Maybe the eventual DVD will add some of this material to the presentation.

Final Thoughts:
Because of the way it pushes boundaries as readily as it embraces them, for the scope of the spectacle and the depth of the dementia - just for the way it works on the mainstream movie-enfeebled brain, Funky Forest: The First Contact, earns an easy Highly Recommended. It may not be everyone's cup of green tea, but it does satisfy in ways few omnibus efforts can match. Considered kudos have to be given to Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, and Shunichiro Miki. They manage to take a motion picture maelstrom that typically has a hard time of gelling and they turn it into a crackerjack compendium of ideas and images. While it never makes much sense, and strives to be as confrontational as comforting, this trip through the weird woodlands of Japanese entertainment couldn't be more refreshing. It also reminds us that, for all its contextual underpinnings, film remains a strongly visual medium - and Funky Forest: The First Contact, is nothing but an optical paradise.

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