a crazy and impressive short film by carax. not much unlike david lynch (double negate), leos carax seems to play by his own rules. the films are open ended and sometimes frustrating as they do not result in any intelligible conclusion, but one has to admire the madness and creativity backed by such massive effort to make films that simply can not possibly sell tickets at the box office. its reassuring that there are others out there who give little “merde” about money and what the general public sees as success… i highly recommend seeing this little french film, dedicated to tokyo with love.

a little “intelligible” review: “merde (french for “shit”) is the name given to an unkempt, gibberish-spewing subterranean creature of the tokyo sewers, played by denis lavant, who rises from the underground lair where he dwells to attack unsuspecting locals in increasingly brazen and terrifying ways: he steals cash and cigarettes from passersby, frightens old women and salaciously licks schoolgirls, resulting in a televised media frenzy that creates mounting hysteria among the tokyo populace. after discovering an arsenal of hand grenades in his underground lair, merde slips into full-on assault mode, hurling the munitions at random citizens and creating a godzilla-like atmosphere of urban terror, which the media promptly laps up and reflects back to its equally voracious television audience. enter pompous french magistrate maître voland (jean francois balmer) — a dead ringer for the sewer creature’s gnarled and twisted demeanor — who arrives in tokyo to represent merde’s inevitable televised trial, claiming to be one of only three in the world able to speak his client’s unintelligible language. the media circus mounts as lawyer defends client in a surreal court of law hungry for a satisfying resolution. merde is tried, convicted and sentenced to death — until justice takes an unexpected turn.” by uh