Sion Sono is much better known for Suicide Club (aka Suicide Circle), but devoted fans are probably well acquainted with this one, too. Coming out within a year before Stranger than Fiction, Strange Circus is a movie about an author writing a story that just so happens to be true... maybe... or not? Is she dreaming, is she getting obsessed with her characters, or is this just a repressed past? With any answer, it's still a great movie. Visually, it's beyond stunning... the wet red walls are enough to give you nightmares all on their own, but Sono also juxtaposes the story with circus imagery that increases the Theatre of the Absyrd feeling to almost delirious proportions.
And quick kudos to the acting. Yes, the main character shines... but Issei Ishida as Yuji is probably one of the most singularly beautiful movement actors since The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The grace and control is better than dancing... a good reflection of the directing, which flows along a track exciting as a roller coaster but smooth as ice-skating.
--PolarisDiB
And quick kudos to the acting. Yes, the main character shines... but Issei Ishida as Yuji is probably one of the most singularly beautiful movement actors since The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The grace and control is better than dancing... a good reflection of the directing, which flows along a track exciting as a roller coaster but smooth as ice-skating.
--PolarisDiB