Fantasia Report: Exte: Hair Extensions Review

Our thanks go to Marc-André Goulet who checks in here with his first report from the Fantasia Festival, a review of Sion Sono's Exte: Hair Extensions.

One of the highlights of the first week of Fantasia's 11th edition was the Canadian premiere of *Exte: Hair Extensions*, the latest from Sion Sono. In true Fantasia fashion, the film was presented to a very enthusiastic and cheerful crowd. With previous Fantasia favorites such as *Suicide Club*(Most Groundbreaking Film, 2003) and *Strange Circus* (Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film and Best Actress, 2006), and with Sion Sono in attendance, expectations were set high, and to say the least, the crowd was not disappointed, as the weird universe of the director collided with J-Horror cliches, providing very refreshing twists and turns to the genre.

*Exte*'s storyline starts with J-Horror's most stereotyped motif – the ghost of a young girl with long dark hair. Her dead body arriving to Japan in a container, she grasps the interest of a hair-fetishist mortuary employee (Ren Osugi, in a deliriously theatrical and over the top performance) turning overtly obsessed with her evergrowing hair. As he starts going berserk and providing hair extensions taken from the body to various people, including to a young apprentice hairdresser (Chiaki Kuriyama, of *Battle Royale* and *Kill Bill* fame) who needs to look over her niece molested by her violent sister, weird and supernatural things start to happen.

Using J-Horror elements as a playing ground, Sion Sono provides yet another unexpected and unique entry in his filmography. Defying easy classification, made with a bigger budget, *Exte* is set in a more mainstream territory, while the narrative unfolds into a grotesque horror comedy mixed with conventional drama that focuses on family issues, where Sion Sono surprisingly continues his exploration of some recurrent themes (children abuse, dysfunctional family and cruelty). Of course, there is less emotional power at display here when compared to the devastating depth of such themes in *Strange Circus*, as *Exte* is more audience friendly and never takes itself too seriously. As an exercise and a foray into the surnatural, it brilliantly manages to subvert the genre while delivering the goods with astonishing set pieces (most if not all done with natural hair, as confirmed by the director during the Q&A) that blew the audience away.

Funny, witty, at times touching and visually impressive, *Exte: Hair Extensions *is certainly the most accessible entry in Sion Sono's demented universe, yet it keeps his personal vision intact. This is a must see for aficionados of the director and for Japanese cinema movie buffs.

Review by Marc-André Goulet