What renegade Japanese auteur Toshiaki Toyada claims could be his final feature is a typically bewildering and imaginative mix that is part spiritual quest, part absurdist caper, and part indefinable pipe dream.
The path to enlightenment is a maze filled with traps in “Transcending Dimensions,” which cult Japanese director Toshiaki Toyoda claims could be his final feature. It can certainly be taken as a kind of summary, recapping previous recurring themes and motifs, though in some ways it constitutes more of an advanced course than a practical introduction to his work. Even the most devoted fans may occasionally take issue with a feature that is at once absurd, philosophical, violent, whimsical, satirical, and unnerving.
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda
Writer: Toshiaki Toyoda
Stars: Chihara Jr., Masahiro Higashide, Haruka Imô
Still, the unpredictability and aesthetic appeal of Toyoda’s vision have their usual stimulating effect. A precise point may be unknown, but reaching it is a playful cosmic journey that justifies the haughty advertising slogan: “Enter the door to the universe.” However, woe betide anyone who expects something so simply categorized as “science fiction”! Yet that's how it's marketed.
The deceptively serene opening shows a monk meditating in a cave until he finds a mysterious conch shell in the pool beneath a waterfall. There is no dialogue for nearly 10 minutes, until Master Hanzo (Chihara Jr.) invokes “the power of the wolf” over a ritual fire before numerous bowed onlookers. Many seek his wisdom, but it doesn't come cheap: this blond, grinning guru routinely demands the amputation of a finger in exchange for his harsh insights. A skeptical onlooker, who drives away in disgust, has a driving accident, presumably caused by the smug master's psychic powers.
Another observer is hitman Shinno (Ryuhei Matsuda). He had visited the remote retreat at the behest of client Nonoka (Haruka Imou), tasked with finding out what had happened to her boyfriend. Rosuke (Yosuke Kubozuka) disappeared while "training" with Hanzo, whom she calls "scum... intoxicated by the poisons of the world." Complaining that the evil spirit guide has also driven her mad, she asks Shinno to kill him before taking drastic measures to escape this mortal plane herself.
This relatively straightforward plot is only the starting point for a truly frenzied narrative that kicks off around the 40-minute mark, when the belated opening credits roll and we plunge into a "2001"-style psychedelia. The levels of inner and outer reality traversed subsequently encompass space travel, a diamond-faceted chamber of mirrors, a research facility for shady experiments on human beings, and more, with the aforementioned conch shell repeatedly blown to summon the "light of truth." But truth is a very subjective, ever-changing, and never fixed thing. Although concepts like "soul," "intuition," and "transcendence" are taken seriously by the characters, the film itself offers the viewer not a pilgrimage, but an ingenious and mind-bending experience.
While its clever audiovisual ideas are undoubtedly more modest in scale, "Dimensions" could be described as a fusion of "The Holy Mountain" and "The Matrix": a shallow search for existential meaning that Toyoda's deadpan humor turns into a kind of running gag. There are occasional dull stretches, along with baffling ones. But above all, the effect is one of idiosyncratic delight.
Those who have followed the director's career will recognize elements borrowed from previous works, especially since this film aims to culminate the "Mt. Resurrection Wolf" series, which began with the short film "Wolf's Calling" in 2019. The elements of religious cult and criminality go back even further in his filmography, to titles like "I'm Flash!", "Nine Souls," and "Monsters Club." Toyoda is dedicated to posing questions to provoke, not resolve. Those unwilling to accept a considerable degree of confusion along the way should pass him by.
All the actors seem perfectly attuned to this slippery wave, while the designers—particularly director of photography Kenji Maki, art director Takashi Sasaki, costume designer Kazuhiro Sawataishi, and visual effects chief Nobutaka Douki—do exemplary work. The audio aspects are equally imaginatively realized, with particular emphasis on the score by the taiko drum group Kodo and the genre-defying British jazz band Sons of Kemet.
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