aka Gusher No Binds Me, aka The Bottled Fools

Another low-budget indie sci-fi film, making the most of limited sets and resources. This Japanese psychodrama creates a fascist futuristic universe, suggested primarily from the inside of an elevator. The human race has apparently gone underground, living and working in countless stacked levels organized by class and occupation. Elevators are the only means of transportation between them, where we meet a cross-section of the dystopia. Luchino (one of the few named characters) is a rebellious, telepathic teen on her way to class. A toddler drags along her pet brain in a jar, and pesters her grandmother with questions about what Level Zero is like (the lift’s top stop is actually One). Armies of robot-like businessmen march in and out in perfect order. Other key players are an anti-government biogenecist, a sulky headphone-clad mysterioso, a couple of frightening convicts on their way to “disposal,” and the icy cool female elevator operator. When an accident causes the shuttle to plummet, all Hell breaks out as the trapped characters learn more about each other than they’d care to. Things get very tense and brutal as the walls close in during the breakdown. A lot of ideas are packed into this stylish, ambitious film, which envisions a world not too far removed from our own. Citizens are under constant video surveillance, smoking is a felony, and anonymous security guards can demand ID at random. It’s no surprise when the paranoid populace reaches a boiling point. And what is on that mythical Level Zero, anyway?

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