Long Dream

Facets/Tidepoint Pictures

Higuchinsky absolutely blew me away with Uzumaki in 2000 and this hour long made for TV production was made at the same time and was written by the creator of the Uzumaki manga, Junji Ito, so checking it out, despite reports of how uneven Higuchinskys work has been since then, was a given. But unfortunately the results are well...uneven. I liked this when I wanted to love it. But I did like it enough to heartily recommend it to anyone who, like me, wishes there were a surrealistic companion piece to Uzumaki. It brought to mind Lars Von Triers The Kingdom because of its hospital setting but ultimately this was a Lovecraftian immersion into the mystery of human identity, and the fear of cosmic chaos.

A doctor dealing with a deformed patient who is afraid of sleep is astonished to learn of the existence of long dreams which produce the deformity and the same physical effects as aging. Believing he has found the secret to immortality he pushes his patient and finally himself beyond the boundaries of sanity paying a horrible price and losing the one thing he had hoped to gain. The film looks much like what you would expect for a limited budget TV production especially in the extensive facial makeups. But this tends to work in it’s favor although the similarities to soap opera don’t end there. This perhaps more than anything else hinders the overall impact of the story. But they also, at times, lend it even more of an unearthly quality. Like most Uzumaki fans I’ll continue to hope Higuchinsky can find the right blend of material and money down the road. Interviews with Junji Ito, the notoriously reclusive Higuchinsky, and tar Shuuji Kashiwabara are also included.