Pulse (2001)
From pulse to flatline.
Presentation:
After watching the masterpiece that is Cure, I was excited to watch Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s most well known film. Unfortunately, this film didn’t really get my pulse going by the end of it. The beginning is fantastic with brooding atmosphere and a very intense ghost sequence, which ends up being the highlight of the entire film. The second half turns into a mystery and doesn’t measure up to its promising start. The scares are hit or miss, I found some of them even comical but I expect for most novices to horror it will be terrifying. I think it relies too heavily on its auditory aspects for its scares, which is good and bad. When it works, it’s hyper immersive. When it doesn’t, it’s corny and repetitive. This film feels like the experimental testing ground for his future magnum opus, Cure. The cinematography is still great with some of the most unique uses of lighting. The way he’s able to depict ghosts in black shadowy clothing is genius and the blocking of light to create jarring shadows really shapes every room. But it’s extremely dark, probably only occasionally going above 500 nits of brightness. The CGI on the other hand won’t stand up to modern standards.
Analysis:
The film is about loneliness, a metaphor comparing depressed people to ghosts. There’s quite a few explicit lines of dialogue that make the analysis unrewarding, but it’s pretty much explained in the library what is going on. With modern streaming and parasocial online content, it would seem as though the film would be more impactful than today. Japan has many social problems especially regarding their lost generation. As a mood piece, this film captures their struggles quite well in the digital age, but it’s ultimately weak sauce compared to Cure. If death is eternal loneliness, are people today really living?
Conclusion:
Although there is much to love about this film, it ultimately falls off hard and the pulse doesn’t resuscitate. There’s a very interesting social message, which might even be more relevant today, but it’s not executed as well as you’d expect considering that first half. Beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeep.
Recommendations
From pulse to flatline.