Review of “Open Your Mind” (2005)

Moving picture, 36 minutes

Oshii Mamoru (director).

Review applies to the DVD version of the film, without translation of the accompanying utai.

Apparently a myth of creation in three acts, infusing real and unreal nature with solemn mystery.

Mixed-media installation. Fantasy without traditional or dramatic plot, vaguely like Naqoyqatsi (2002) etc. Contemplative transcendentalism. Kawai’s music is as important as the visuals, which are frequently uninformative. I suggest getting the lyrics first. The original title is Mezame no Hakobune, literally “The Ark of Awakening”, in the sense of an ark like the Abrahamic Noah’s.

moving picture Japanese production animation fiction