Ambiguous Places

Akira Ikeda’s Ambiguous Places plunges the spectator into a bewildering Japanese comedy in which Kafka meets Kaurismaki not too far from Kyoto. A young woman, Konoko, wakes up on a beach with an insect stuck to her head. She looks for a barber to remove it but the barbershop morphs into an udon joint. What seems to be a quiet seaside town turns out to be a surreal fantasy and does not make much sense from one episode to the next. However, this extremely original film evolves into a strong critique of Japanese society and the social and family pressures exerted on its inhabitants. The film is accentuated by a robotic acting style while its humor turns this quirky story into quite a unique and unusual piece.