Bright Future / Jellyfish Alert
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 2.0
Kiyoshi Kurosawa wanders into Imamura territory: mentally ill person pampers potentially dangerous creature with metaphysical powers - unlike The Eel, however, the poisonous red jellyfish doesn't 'communicate' anything, although it certainly 'means' almost everything. There's a hint of Tsai and Wong in the view of youthful hostility - a group of rogue kids wear Che Guevara t-shirts - but their films are a better defined and more original than this; I kept watching out of curiosity, although it never grabbed me the way, say, Rebels of a Neon God did. The jellyfish is an odd metaphor, and doesn't seem to mesh with Kurosawa's view of the future as being promising and different (unless, of course, the title is meant to be ironic): the creatures are pretty to look at but highly dangerous, and if they bring the hope of a new tomorrow, why are they used as a device to punish and harm? Gets special consideration for effort, though, and it's considerably better than Cure and Pulse.
