Open Your Mind

A rather experimental short from Mamoru Oshii. It's far from his most popular work, it's certainly not his most accomplished either, but dedicated Oshii fans will find something to like here, not to mention something to snicker at. The man has some clear hangups he simply can't get rid of, no matter how random they appear.

While there is supposed to be a premise, I don't feel it translates very well. The film is about alien life settling on Earth, but it's probably better to take it as a more "standard" abstract art project. The three segments feel rather disconnected from each other and unless you want to really "open your mind", I don't think there's a lot of meaning or wisdom to be gained from this film.

The CG feels outdated, and it's not even up to par with Oshii's older films, no doubt due to some budgetary issues. Kenji Kawai's soundtrack on the other hand kills it, giving the film that typical moody Oshii vibe I crave. Add some very weird dog lore (the morphing babies are particularly disturbing/funny) and you have an interesting experiment.