Princess Raccoon
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Year Released: 2005
Rating: 1.0
When it comes to Seijun Suzuki, his cinematographer Yonezo Maeda put it perfectly: "I have no clue what he wants. I don't know what he has in mind." He later praises the auteur's 'uniqueness,' but his point is clear: his films are a jumble, and this one - about a Prince who falls in love with a Raccoon Woman - is no different: in fact, the further into the picture it gets, the less coherent things become. This free-wheeling approach works for some filmmakers, it seems (Wong Kar-Wai and Godard don't use scripts all the time; Jodorowsky's penchant for dream logic alienates many) but with Suzuki I never feel like it serves the basics of the story or is anything more than a random hodge-podge of colorful sets and costumes - his technique draws too much attention to itself.
