Synopsis
Their parents are dead. They should be sad, but they can't cry. So they form a kick-ass band. This is the story of four 13-year-olds in search of their emotions.
2019 ‘ウィーアーリトルゾンビーズ’ Directed by Makoto Nagahisa
Their parents are dead. They should be sad, but they can't cry. So they form a kick-ass band. This is the story of four 13-year-olds in search of their emotions.
Wī ā ritoru zonbīzu, Wî â ritoru zonbîzu
The first words of Nagahisa Makoto’s “We Are Little Zombies” are spoken by a deadpan and disembodied 13-year-old Game Boy addict named Hikari (Ninomiya Keita) as he watches his parents waft out the smokestack of a Tokyo crematorium. “Today, Mommy turned to dust. So did Daddy. Dusty as parmesan on a plate of Bolognese.” A gleaming wad of spaghetti appears over the giant chimney as if Photoshopped into the sky. Hikari lost both members of his small family a few days earlier when they were killed in a bus crash during the “worst-named package tour of all time: Destination Happiness!” The short-sighted tween — whose emotionless vibe falls somewhere between Detective Conan and a serial killer — isn’t impressed by…
"We are zombies, but alive."
In the third grade, I was placed in my elementary school's gifted program. Essentially, it was a program designed to pull all the "smartest kids" from each grade, and give them a class where they could learn more "advanced" education, that the rest of the class was deemed too unintelligent to learn. Being an elementary schooler, I obviously didn't think twice about this, but looking back, I find this idea of a "gifted" education pretty absurd. It's kind of insane to me that a group of child educators can look at a group of children not older than 10 years old, and think for a second that the best thing to do is to separate…
“perfect movies don’t exist,” they say.
“is that so?” i ask as i unsheathe my copy of makoto nagahisa’s we are little zombies. i hold the blu-ray up for all to see. “then how do you explain this?!”
a collective gasp resounds from the crowd of disbelievers.
“that’s what i thought.”
“Please cry. Please feel. Just kidding. All together now.”
Batshit bonkers movie, a coming of age/a coming to terms with grief like nothing I’ve ever seen
"Life is like The Castle. I don't have a good feeling about it."
Find a girl that will cry unexpectedly at the lyrics of We Are Little Zombies as performed the first time.
And it isn't lost on me either that I missed this at MIFF 2019 due to being a single player.
This film hurts a bunch if you know what it feels like to lose your emotion to harsh circumstances.
It's an endlessly inventive film that therefore holds your attention.
Hikari cut me the most.
I like to imagine that this is the thought process that Kenzaburō Ōe and his wife went through while naming their son.
I don't know if I can trust Makoto Nagahisa around my feelings again!
Life is like a SHIT GAME!
• Japanuary 2022 #20 🇯🇵
Wenn der Kreativität scheinbar keine Grenzen gesetzt werden kommt wohl sowas hier dabei heraus. We Are Little Zombies ist trotz des Titels definitiv KEIN Zombiefilm, sondern ist am ehesten vergleichbar mit sowas wie Scott Pilgrim versus the World, nur eben mit jeder Menge Japanischer Craziness im 4-Spieler Multiplayer Modus. Verantwortlich für dieses wild/charmante 8-Bit-Chiptune-Super-Musical-RPG-Adventure-Movie ist der mit den Goldfischen im Pool, Makoto Nagahisa. Er hat schon mit seinem Kurzfilm bewiesen das er alles andere als konventionelle Filme macht. Sein erster Langfilm führt diese Tradition auf alle Fälle fort.
Dabei steckt unter all der Knallbunten Optik und Retro 8-Bit Videogame Ästhetik auch in We Are Little Zombies eine ernsthafte Story…
This is the story of four unemotional people.
Just like the quote said, We Are Little Zombies is the story of four emotionless orphan teens. It's about their life, their friendship and the band they start together.
It is a nice story and a really innovative coming of age. We Are Little Zombies is extremely surreal, frenetic and fantastic. I was really enchanted by its satire and its sense of humor, the visuals are incredible as well; the colorful neon letters and the dark humor contrast the depressing parts. It is also extremely meta, which surprised me a lot. The experimental angles and cameras movements, the popping pictures between scenes, the punk and profligate style. Everything is so…
Meine Fresse, das spottet so hart jeder Beschreibung, was sich da ohne Unterlass in die Netzhaut brennt, das muss man selbst gesehen haben.
Wenn ihr eine 'Top 100 an Dingen, die du ihr noch erleben wollt, bevor ihr stirbt' Liste führt, dann packt das Ding ruhig mal in die Top 10 rein.
Trailer: youtu.be/O_-9wNeRLSs
In the year 20XX, the band We Are Little Zombies was created. Chiptune and keygen beats overload. A kick-ass band. Want to continue? What will we do when we're just living zombies? The catchiest soundtrack. Wonderful character and musical chemistry. Getting quest items. Dark thematic elements presented from your Famicom console. The dad boss fight. A rather unsatisfying ending for a stylized 8-bit journey, I get what it was trying to say but it doesn't work as well as it should. Dreamers who aren't stuck in the sadness of the Cell-Scape and can feel now, we wish you luck and 1-ups on the paths you choose.
To sum up the Movie in one word:
LOUD!
A charming, audacious and wild ride through the eyes of four children, that were fed with the right amount of nihilism.
From black and white, to digital color correction, from a fish lens to wide angle, practically every film technique that you can imagine was used. 8-Bit Soundtrack paired with very loud punk-rock-music kept the whole crazy editing together and the sum is a wonderful Japanese Movie in the veins of Memories of Matsuko and Sion Sono.
If the sugar-coating wasn't over the whole premise, it would've been almost unbearable. Yet with such a trippy approach, you can always win my heart over.
An impressive full length debut for Makoto Nagahisa!
First of all, that is not a “zombie movie” per se. Just had to be said. Horror movie fans should check this out - everyone should - but don’t expect any gut-munching.
Rather, We Are Little Zombies is about a metaphorical deadening of the soul, focusing on four pre-teens on the cusp of maturity who meet after losing their parents - to suicide, to murder, to misadventure - and find themselves isolated and unable to express their emotions in any “normal” way.
That may make the movie sound treacly or unappealing but We Are Little Zombies feels more like Nobody Knows as directed with the video game aesthetic and pop visuals of Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim and the savage angst…