A Japanese version of the folktale ‘Snail Wife’. But this is no fairy tale. This strange story by Akira Ikeda will bring a smile to the audience in its own special way. Kogure works in a small paper clip factory in a remote village and lives alone in an apartment. One day, a woman who speaks gibberish appears and starts living with him. A few days later, her father also comes and lives with them. The film continues in a pattern of ‘repetition’ and ‘variation’ with Kogure moving to and from the factory, a local restaurant and his apartment. It’s almost like watching a slower version of a silent slapstick comedy. The expressionless faces of the characters also allude to the silent films. Thus the world that surrounds Kogure is as peculiar as the world of Alice in Wonderland. Where the film humorously twists reality and fable, it concludes with Kogure taking off his neck brace, seeming to indicate that he is just waking up from a dream and is now ready to face reality. (KIM Ji-Seok)