Symbol (film)

Symbol
Symbol
	Film poster
Directed by	Hitoshi Matsumoto
Written by	Hitoshi Matsumoto; Mitsuyoshi Takasu
Produced by	Akihiko Okamoto
Starring	Hitoshi Matsumoto; David Quintero; Luis Accinelli; Lilian Tapia; Adriana Fricke; Carlos C. Torres
Cinematography	Yasuyuki Tōyama
Edited by	Yoshitaka Honda
Music by	Yasuaki Shimizu
Production; companies	Yoshimoto Kogyo; Phantom Film; AOI Promotion
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	September 12, 2009 (Japan);
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Japan
Languages	Japanese; Spanish; English; Russian;

Symbol (Japanese: しんぼる, Hepburn: Shinboru) is a 2009 Japanese surrealist comedy film directed by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto. It was nominated for the Asian Film Awards in the categories of Best Actor and Best Visual Effects, and has not received an official U.S. release.

The film was greeted negatively by Japanese audiences; however, it received a surprisingly warmer reaction in the West, despite not being commercialized outside Japan.

Plot

The film contains two major story lines. The first takes place in Mexico and centers around a masked wrestler called Escargot Man and his family as they prepare for a match that night. His family worries about him since the luchador is growing older and his slated opponent is stronger and younger than him. Nevertheless, his son and father are excited to see the match. These portions of the film are realistic, with dialogue in Spanish.

In the second, more surreal storyline, a Japanese man wakes up in an empty white room with no apparent ceiling from which he struggles to escape. Both story lines eventually indirectly converge.

Cast

Hitoshi Matsumoto as the Man
David Quintero as Escargot Man / Antonio's Father
Luis Accinelli as Antonio's Uncle
Lilian Tapia as Antonio's Mother
Adriana Fricke as Karen
Carlos C. Torres as Antonio
Ivana Wong as Antonio's Sister
Arkangel De La Muerte as Aguila De Plata
Matcho Panpu as Tequila Joe
Dick Togo as El Super Demonio
Salam Diagne as African Tribesman

Production

Matsumoto not only wrote the script and directed the film, he also stars as the man trapped in the white room. Being that large parts of the narrative are based on non-verbal communication and set in a singular space, Symbol is comparable to films like Aragami (Ryuhei Kitamura) and the Cube film series.

External links

Symbol at IMDb