A dreamy musical delight, asking whether love can last like obsessions can…
The story of how Plastic was born starts with a musician and a producer feeling nostalgic. Ide Kensuke and his producer Hiroshi Ishihara wanted to pay tribute to their musical heroes, acts like T. Rex and David Bowie. Much like Bowie, Ide Kensuke longed for a Ziggy Stardust-esque alter ego. This resulted in the fictional 70’s prog-rock band Exne Kedy (Ide Kensuke backwards). His second album took the metanarrative to a new brilliant level, creating a live album retroactively in 1974, called Strolling Planet 74’. boid, Exne Kedy’s music label, which also has a film branch, received a grant from the government. It decided to combine director Daisuke Miyazaki’s creative flair with the already fascinating concept of Exne Kedy.
The result is a unique and endearing story about love and obsession. Two youths, one from rural Nagoya, and the other a Tokyo urbanite, cross paths in a scene which is almost prophetic. Jun played by Takuma Fujie (August my Heaven, The Pretenders) is busking playing classic Exne Kedy music, on the abandoned streets of Nagoya . The local, Ibuki played by An Ogawa (Heaven is Still Far Away, Following the Sound), is blasting Exne Kedy on her headphones while riding her bike, and for a single magical moment they are perfectly insync. Ibuki notices, but Jun is too wrapped up in performing. When they finally meet they realize that their obsession with Exne Kedy, a band that hasn’t performed since they broke up in 1974, could be enough common ground to create a newfound passion for eachother.
What results is a stunning, slightly cosmic and yet tonally serious will-they-won’t-they. The film is noticeably punctuated by a very self-aware look at COVID. Daisuke embeds this film with a sort of playfulness, invoking aliens and animal consciousness, yet grounds it in a very simple and relatable setting. The combination makes for a slightly magical yet emotionally impactful experiment in subtlety, not quite slow cinema, but certainly patient and observant, this film takes time to absorb. The sign of any thoughtful production, the real conversation occurs after the film, the viewer is left reflecting on their obsessions, COVID, and love lost or found. I cannot wait for what else Daisuke Miyazaki and Ide Kensuke have in store, their creativity feels like a breath of fresh air in today’s entertainment climate.