I could make some token attempt at describing Funky Forest in this review, but it would be rather pointless because the movie doesn’t have a story, or bother to go anywhere with anything EVER. It’d be as ridiculous as logically trying to describe a dream where I’m fistfucking Big Bird in Carnegie Hall while wearing a Tuxedo.
Imagine Monty Python’s Flying Circus “And now for something completely different!” written by William S. Burroughs and you’ll get an idea of the insanity contained herein. There’s a bunch of stuff that works well, especially when the film is being a comedy. The segments dealing with the “Unpopular With Women Brothers” and three Japanese women getting drunk are funny and fresh, but there’s not much else going on here. At some point Forest stops being funny and the rest of the movie just meander’s endlessly from one weird thing to another.
The pinnacle of bizarre is probably the 3 minute long intermission in the middle of the film. I’m serious, the movie just stops dead and “END OF A-SIDE” appears in big black letters, followed by a countdown clock. That’s a long three minutes man.
Tadanobu Asano plays one of the three “Unpopular With Women Brothers” (As if he really could be unpopular when all he has to do is smile and any woman would throw her probably soaking wet panties at his head.) and single-handedly saves most of the segments he’s in. He’s whimsical and fun and just a joy to watch.
Because the film uses a lot of DJ and Mix tape analogy, I will add one of my own. Funky Forest is like a remix of a song you haven’t heard but might have liked if only that damn DJ stopped skipping and repeating the same three notes over and over again. Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! Dee-Dee-Deet-Deeeeeet! FOR THIRTY F*****G MINUTES! Even the most wasted E geek is gonna be gnashing their teeth in impatience by then.
Funky Forest however, is far longer than thirty minutes. It is two and a half hours long. That’s over 150 non-stop minutes of unrelenting, unyielding stream of consciousness non-narrative that assaults your senses on every front. It is a well made, well shot, well acted, well directed, well scored, and well edited film. However, it is way way way too long and its length transforms what could have been a fun/weird movie into a test of patience. If you like weird, I say go for it. I enjoyed myself for about an hour, after that I was staring at my pen and wondering if jamming it up my nose would make the time go by faster.
