“Symbol” is a 2009 Japanese film written and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto. The film tells the story of a nameless man who is trapped in a surreal world and has to deal with the absurd and insane ideas of the plot.
The plot of the film revolves around two independent storylines that eventually come together in an astonishing finale. The first storyline follows a nameless man who mysteriously wakes up in an empty, round room covered with strange, phallus-like symbols. He desperately tries to escape from this room, but every attempt seems futile. The man is confronted with various absurd situations in which symbolism plays a major role. For example, hundreds of naked buttocks suddenly appear, hanging down from the ceiling and slapping him in the face.
The second storyline revolves around a Mexican professional wrestler called Escargot Man who lives in a crazy wrestling world. Escargot Man is accompanied by his manager and his assistant, who help him prepare for the fights.
The film presents a variety of mad ideas and surreal situations that transcend the boundaries of reality. From absurdly funny scenes like a fish that serves as a telephone to bizarre characters like a group of priests who dress up as a baseball team, “Symbol” surprises the audience again and again with its creative madness. Matsumoto cleverly combines these seemingly disjointed elements into a fascinating and bizarrely funny narrative.
