I’m not sure what Symbol, or ‘Shimbolu’ as it is pronounced in Japan, is a symbol of or if it is anything except a quirky bit of Japanese eccentricity not so different from the nutty game shows they have over there. In the opening credits ‘Shimbolu’ is even spelt with the Hiragana alphabet rather than the Katakana that is usually reserved for the communication of foreign words, hinting that this will be something out of the ordinary. Symbol follows Hitoshi Matsumoto’s recent festival favorite Dai-Nipponjin (Big Man Japan or Number One Japan Man), a whacky defense of Japan drop out monster movie that is entirely off the wall in North America though a quite regular theme in Japan. Symbol, however, is quite literally off the wall with a bigger idea outside the Godzilla-esque. It is all Matsumoto though, and a fetish idea, with only possibly grander pretensions.

There are two incongruous stories. One is about a Mexican wrestler Escargot-man and his family preparing for another day in the ring fighting for justice for children, which adds a little bit of outside colour. The main Story though is about Hitoshi Matsumoto waking up in his pyjamas to find himself in an empty white room that he must try to escape. He discovers that by pressing the sexual organs sticking out of the walls all kinds of different objects will come out (I’m not making this up) including the ubiquitous maguro sushi, chopsicks, comic books and stereotypes. Not sexual, it is something that is more likely just cute or “kawai!” its origins from the fascination in Japan with the garden pond cupids that pee water constantly. Pressing on it makes a funny sound and it pops back up. Matsumoto often yells “Nan-day-o!” which is a macho nuanced, all-purpose, guys way of saying “What the f**k,” “What is going on,” “What do you mean,” “I don’t understand,” “Something smells,” “What am I supposed to do?”, and so on. So the English translations are interesting.

Matsumoto’s comical face dealing with his predicament is indeed quite funny at times and I wonder why more movies don’t feature these interesting wordless character studies perhaps like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Imagine in North America if Jay Leno had not only his late night talk show but he also hosted The Price is Right instead of Drew Carey, and Deal or No Deal instead of Howie Mandel, and a half a dozen other shows all at the same time often featuring young girls in bikinis, you might begin to get some idea of the kind of celebrity that Hitoshi Matsumoto is in Japan. So reading any kind of mad genius pins into Symbol is simply far from accurate. I’m just guessing here, but his no show at TIFF for a Q&A, I’m willing to bet, has something to do with him thinking it ridiculous to be congratulated for just another silly movie and he would wonder what all the fuss is about and thinking it’s not worth the trouble of a twelve hour flight. He is simply a chosen personality that can do whatever he wants.

However, it does have some of the pretext of artsy or performance art and will appeal to a few with the patience for its comedy. The vast majority of people will stick with Godzilla if they see anything at all from Japan. When I first saw the images of Matsumoto in his pyjamas I thought this would be a movie about the Japanese social phenomenon of the “otaku” (hobby nerds) or “hikikomori” (shut-ins) - young men who live at home and are afraid to go outside and work. I was perhaps making a connection with Air Doll the movie, also at TIFF. There is despite what I have said more of a transcendent idea here unusual enough in Japan that I’m not quite sure what to make of it, if anything at all. Matsumoto’s comic face is really the whole movie.