Symbol (2009)

	Also Known As: Shinboru
	Year of first release: 2009
	Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
	Actors: Hitoshi Matsumoto, Luis Accinelli
	Country: J
	Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2013, DVD, OV
Synopsis: A man wakes up alone in a brightly illuminated white room with no windows or doors. When he presses a mysteriously phallic protuberance that appears on one wall, a pink toothbrush materializes from nowhere, clattering to the floor and setting in motion a genuinely bizarre chain of events. Soon the imprisoned man is engaged in absurd and hilarious attempts to escape the gleaming room, releasing random objects from the walls, creating a life sized mouse trap game in which a rope, a toilet plunger and an earthenware jug full of sushi might just be the keys to his escape. Meanwhile, in a dusty town, a green masked Mexican wrestler known as Escargot Man prepares for an important match. His family gathers around him, worried about his seeming impassivity before battle.
Review: The story is crazy and great! The balance between the story of Escargot Man and the story of the man pressing buttons is good. But as often in Japanese movies, some scenes of the second story are too long and Matsumoto is overplaying his character by screaming when it is not appropriate. The story is fantastically original. The scenery as well. But the acting of Matsumoto is really not appropriate and generates flaws when the rest is great. I should watch in another language than Japanese, maybe the translation saves the acting of Matsumoto.
Rating: 6 /10