TIFF Mini-Reviews - The Gesuidouz

Every film festival, it’s always fun to check out at least one bizarre movie that you otherwise would likely have never had the chance to see. For me at TIFF this year, that was The Gesuidouz (at the screening’s Q&A the director, Kenichi Ugana, explained that it roughly translates to “The Sewage”). It’s a Japanaese film about a down-on-their-luck punk band who move to a farm in the country to write a great new song. Once the new song hits big, they struggle to stay on top and feel the pressure to come up with even more new music. This is all complicated by the fact that the lead singer, and creative force behind the band, Hanako, believes that she’s only got a year to live because she thinks that she’ll die at 27 like a lot of other famous rock stars.

The band, led by the enigmatic but watchable Hanako (second left) played by Natsuko.

Much of this movie is like an acid trip examination of the creative process, complete with talking dogs, anthropomorphized cassette tapes, and dancing zombies. The four members of the band are all strange in their own way, and hang around failing at farming, and spending lots of time enjoying communal meals in between sporadic bouts of inspiration. Although not a horror film itself, the film is laced with references to movies of that genre as the band (and the film’s director and writer) is heavily influenced by the imagery of older slasher flicks.

There was a lot of fun stuff in this movie, but at times it all got a bit repetitive and the whole concept may have worked better as a 20-25 min short film. The process and creative bursts that lead to their first big hit are essentially the same as those that lead to the second, with little indication that they’ve somehow become famous in the interim. Although admittedly weird the characters are all fairly watchable, particularly the lead who plays Hanako, billed only as Natsuko, who plays the role with a manic energy perfect for the part. This movie certainly isn’t for everyone, but it’s fun to get a little weird sometimes, let the creativity flow, and see where it leads.