Lo-fi Sci-fi, I.K.U is the second feature from 'installations artist' and 'Floating digital agent' Shu Lea Cheang and is one of the first films to go toe to toe with the so called 'DV revolution' by rejecting cinematic convention, crashing moral boundaries and heading off across the prairie for uncharted territory. The digital revolution, as exemplified by movements such as the Dogme 95 manifesto, has largely been Cassavetes-lite/Nouvelle Vague domestic docu-dramas that would be more at home as television soaps. For whatever it tells us about the human condition, circa century 21, edgy, dangerous film-making is increasingly the stuff of science fiction and pornography.
In terms of linear story telling I.K.U is strictly anti-plot; but then for western audiences, (and I include myself here), much Japanese cinema could just as well be from outer space in terms of cultural incomprehensibility. I.K.U picks up from where Bladerunner left off; the Genom Corporation has created androids, all called Reiko, who collect sex data during intercourse with humans and then converts the data to chips which can be brought from vending machines or downloaded online. The whole experience has an 'in yer face' scattergun barrage of sound and vision that we would normally associate with advertising - MTV on PCP if you will.
As sure as the internet is the new Wild West - a brave new world where the law is always two steps behind I.K.U is one of the pioneers of tomorrow's cinema. Francis Ford Coppola was once quoted as saying that the next cinematic revolution is just as likely to come from 'a little fat girl from Ohio' as any of the world's film academies. Or in this case a lesbian visionary from Taiwan who's I.K.U could be a cipher to just where this revolution could go.
In terms of linear story telling I.K.U is strictly anti-plot; but then for western audiences, (and I include myself here), much Japanese cinema could just as well be from outer space in terms of cultural incomprehensibility. I.K.U picks up from where Bladerunner left off; the Genom Corporation has created androids, all called Reiko, who collect sex data during intercourse with humans and then converts the data to chips which can be brought from vending machines or downloaded online. The whole experience has an 'in yer face' scattergun barrage of sound and vision that we would normally associate with advertising - MTV on PCP if you will.
As sure as the internet is the new Wild West - a brave new world where the law is always two steps behind I.K.U is one of the pioneers of tomorrow's cinema. Francis Ford Coppola was once quoted as saying that the next cinematic revolution is just as likely to come from 'a little fat girl from Ohio' as any of the world's film academies. Or in this case a lesbian visionary from Taiwan who's I.K.U could be a cipher to just where this revolution could go.