In her high-school graduation party in Sweden, the Belgian Angela (Chloé Winkel) meets the Japanese DJ Yamamoto (Jon Yang) and tells him that she does not like to study, but draw, and she would like to travel to seek adventures. Yamamoto tells her that he has a friend, Monika (Tuva Novotny) that works as hostess in a nightclub for men in Tokyo and gives her address to Angela. The heroin Angela travels and meets Monika, and gets a job escorting executives in the club. When she finds that the Russian girl Larissa (Peggy Jane de Schepper) is missing, Angela decides to investigate the mystery and discovers a murder case.
"Stratosphere Girl" is a very original and intriguing story, presented in a stylish cinematography of film-noir showing Tokyo at night. The plot is totally unpredictable, never uses clichés and has an unexpected twist in the quite open end. While watching the movie, I found apparent flaws in the story that are very well resolved with the conclusion, when the viewer finally sees that the whole plot was fabricated by the imaginative Angela while drawing a "manga" at home. Like in a dream, Angela tells that she is "a visitor in her own world" and the story has a happy end and, disclosing the subtle line between reality and the fantasy of her cartoon. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Traços de 1 Crime" ("Traces of 1 Crime")
"Stratosphere Girl" is a very original and intriguing story, presented in a stylish cinematography of film-noir showing Tokyo at night. The plot is totally unpredictable, never uses clichés and has an unexpected twist in the quite open end. While watching the movie, I found apparent flaws in the story that are very well resolved with the conclusion, when the viewer finally sees that the whole plot was fabricated by the imaginative Angela while drawing a "manga" at home. Like in a dream, Angela tells that she is "a visitor in her own world" and the story has a happy end and, disclosing the subtle line between reality and the fantasy of her cartoon. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Traços de 1 Crime" ("Traces of 1 Crime")