Talking Head (1992) User Reviews (6)

Trippy murder mystery about the nature of reality

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 23 September 2006]

I'm a fan of director Oshii's animated works but for the most part I'm left scratching my head by his live action works.For the most part I find his live action films interesting doodles that don't add up to very much. Then again he surprised me with Talking Head, a very existential and surreal look at not only film making but also the notions of reality.

The plot has to do with a producer of an upcoming animated movie bringing in hired gun director to take over for the previous director who is long gone taking the script and anything remotely connected to the movie with him. Faced with having to make a film in two months the director sets about to work only to find that some one or something is killing off his crew. However the plot isn't really the point as the film spins off in various directions as it pulls apart our notions of reality, movies, stories, and numerous other subjects. Its feast for your mind assuming you like ideas over action.

Not for all tastes, this is head-trip film and if you don't like that sort of thing look elsewhere. Its very much like Heart of Darkness in an anime studio.

I really liked this film a great deal. Its not perfect, bouncing around too much for my tastes but it scores high in my book simply because it dares to be about ideas.

This is where a lot started...

[Fast Eddie · 7/10 · 23 November 2003]

Weird, surreal, funny and at the same time creepy. Some may find it boring, but Talking Head provides lots of "brain food" about motion pictures in general, while retaining a surreal haze around itself.

Anime - and Oshii - fans will find lots of sequences that has been reused in later productions, like Avalon. And after watching this, some Hideaki Anno's Evangelion scenes suddenly doesn't seem that groundbreaking anymore.

If you are an anime fan and can tolerate a lot of weirdness, it's definitely a must. Just don't expect anything to make *real* sense.

A necessary watch for ANYONE studying film

[meteoraxv · 7/10 · 30 May 2012]

'Talking Head' is a necessary watch for ANYONE studying film, or any other type of art closely related to it, for that matter. This movie has surreal elements and is high on dialogue, and thus it is probably impossible (at least it was for me) to digest everything in one sitting. It is one of those movies that HAVE to be seen at least twice to fully understand it. Quote from a character, Mr. Morita: "It's necessary to see it twice."

A lot of twists and turns can be seen. A lot weirdness can be enjoyed. I especially like scenes in the little van that doesn't move.

Good watch, it definitely could've been a bit shorter though. You can easily lose your attention. You'll definitely miss a few lines. You might even fall asleep. Not all movies can pull off being 2+ hours long. 7*

Schizophrenic Genius...

[monsieurxander · 10/10 · 19 May 2004]

This film is definitely one of the most surreal, anti-literal films I've ever seen. It offers a lot of "brain-food" in the way of cinema history and Mamoru Oshii's opinions about movies in general. The film features a cast of characters (some of which are based on actual people who worked on the film)... which are comically insane exaggerations with legs.

It takes a while to get used to Mamoru Oshii's fantastical style, but you are soon sucked into a world where it doesn't surprise you all *that* much that... well, I don't want to spoil it.

I would definitely recommend this movie to film students, fans of anime, fans of film, fans of Japanese culture, fans of silent movies, fans of noir, fans of suspense, fans of fantasy... Well, let's just say there's something for just about everybody.

Talking Head will blow your mind

[rooprect · 15 October 2014]

"In a movie, every action must have some semblance of reality," says a man who has just opened his belly up to expose a bunch of fake looking sausage links inside, "otherwise, I would just be some fool fiddling with his guts."

This wacky yet profound scene is exactly the sort of stuff you can expect for 90 minutes of beard-stroking, mind-fudging fun. As if making fun of itself, the movie takes us into surrealistic territory that would make Terry Gilliam faint. Shot entirely in a movie theater with only a minimal amount of props to denote location changes, this is the 2nd most minimalist film I've ever seen (the 1st being "Dogville" shot entirely on a stage with chalk outlines of a "town"). But don't let that scare you off; the visuals are anything but boring. There is a certain visual intensity that couldn't be created any other way.

The plot (although it isn't really the focus) is about a "migrant animation director" who is called in to finish an anime film after the original director mysteriously disappears, leaving almost no clues as to what he was up to. Methodically, the new director begins to piece together his predecessor's work but not so much in a literal sense as a philosophical sense. Herein lies the beauty of this film because there are some absolute gems of wisdom unearthed in his interviews with the crew: thoughts on the very nature of art & film and their purpose in the world. If you're an artist, musician, or particularly a filmmaker, you'll find yourself soaking up every word, despite their deceptively bizarre & corny presentation (like the guy I mentioned who's fiddling with his guts).

Oh, and did I mention that the crew begins to be killed off one by one in the most ridiculous ways? And I almost forgot to mention the strange ghost who appears from time to time. There's definitely a lot going on that'll spin your head. But the point is, as one character says in the beginning, a movie makes its own rules.

Definitely one of the best surrealistic films I've seen, "Talking Head" takes its place alongside my other favorites: Jan Svankmajer's "Faust" (which uses an odd blend of actors and life size marionette puppets), "Dark Mind" (an underrated indie gem about nerdy inventor who believes he's being tailed by the Russians), the aforementioned "Dogville" (an unsettling metaphor for human society) and the godfather of them all, Orson Welles' "The Trial". In "Talking Head" the comedy is the most pronounced, making it perhaps the most fun of the lot, but at the same time it packs some of the most challenging ideas making it one of the hardest to digest. In any case, "Talking Head" is a total mind trip.

Well well

[jelencesb · 8/10 · 8 January 2021]

This was truly worth watching! Take on the destiny of existence of the movie industry? Very good idea and very well presented, in my opinion.