wool 100%

last week i saw the most surreally beautiful movie... WOOL 100%. it was a japanese fantasy about 2 elderly sisters, ume and kame, who go out trash-picking every day, and bring home their treasures to their adorably cluttered collyer-esque house, where they lovingly clean the item and then paint a little portrait of it in their sketchbook. one day, their idyllic routine is shattered by the arrival of a shrieking feral girl who obsessively knits a giant sweater out of red wool yarn, but is never satisfied with it and so inevitably unravels it and begins knitting again, all the while apparently screaming 'knit again! i must knit it again!!!' from the rooftop. she never speaks except for this, so the sisters name her 'Knitagain' (in japanese of course) and try to feed and care for her, though she doesn't seem to appreciate their efforts at all; in fact she trashes their house and burns their sketchbook!
there's not a whole lot of plot (think of it more like a dream, kind of simultaneously enchanting and terrifying) and i'll admit it could use a touch more editing, but i found this film so inspiring and mesmerising... if you love japan, or collecting, or cuckoo clocks, or knitting, you will love this movie. if you love michel gondry, tim burton, or jean-pierre jeunet, you will love this movie. the animations, the music, and the art direction are all amazingly perfect. read the much more eloquent Times review here. the film's run at two boots is over, but keep an eye out for it at an indie cinema near you! the DVD releases in december, so i've got my fingers crossed that my beloved netflix will pick it up...