Bottled Fools (Gusher No Binds Me)-Movie Review

Gusher No Binds Me( aka Bottled Fools)

Director- Hiroki Yamaguchi
Japan 2004 97 min. DV Unrated

The surprise hot of this year's Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Gusher No Binds Me (translated as 'Bottled Fools') is the debut feature from young Japanese prodigy Hiroki Yamaguchi. Not since Vincenzo Natali's Cube have a meager budget and limited sets been so creatively employed. With a crew of student volunteers and a barrage of industrial scrap, Yamaguchi has created a striking and bleak future-world, and "conjured up a unique and intense vision of abstract, psychologically-charged sci-fi/horror" (Rupert Bottenberg).

Set almost entirely in a transport elevator that shuttles citizens between towns stacked on top of one another, the film's oppressive paranoia is built-in and expertly utilized. When two policemen board the elevator with a pair of convicted homicidal rapists in tow, the stage is set for certain doom. The other passengers - a young mother, a sketchy scientist, a group of businessmen, a silent kid with massive headphones and a teenage schoolgirl who is haunted by a violent incident in her past - can't help but count down the floors between them and escape. They are understandably disturbed by the presence of the two prisoners, who are obviously deeply psychotic and seem capable of effortlessly overtaking their captors should they so choose. Which, of course, they do. When the elevator suddenly stalls and communication with the outside world is cut off, the accusations fly, the shackles drop, and utter bloody chaos ensues. With terrific sets, detailed characterization and outbursts of excessive violence, Gusher No Binds Me is an inspirational independent film.

Kier-La Janisse

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