Strings

It is undeniably bizarre to watch a film starring Thunderbird like dolls who speak with motionless mouths and whose movements are controlled by strings made deliberately obvious to the viewer. It is these strings that give the films its name; where rather than trying to hide them they are embraced and turned into something philosophical within a fantastic world.

A dying king's last wish is that his son Hal takes over after him and set about bringing peace to the land and its neighbours. However, the king's brother finds the note leaving these instructions and destroys it, thus taking over the kingdom himself and exiling the rightful heir. Hal ventures across the land to find the Zeriths, whom Hal has been told killed his father. His quest for revenge falters when he meets the exotic leader of the Zeriths, Zita and learns the truth about his father.

The bizarreness of this film soon falls away as what would otherwise be a fault become something entirely different. Here, a character's strings are their lifeforce, so that if you cut someone's head string then they will die. In this world a cities gate can be a very high piece of stone, which prevents a person's strings from passing underneath it. The strings are used as poignant symbols of life, especially in scenes where a city is shown from above and there is a forest of strings rising up into the clouds marking everyone below.

The world of Strings is rich with imagination and depth. This is one of the most original fantasy films of recent times and is utterly unique.

It deserves to be seen.

Anthony Loh