One of the best things about Fantastic Fest is discovering a film that you had absolutely no intention of seeing, that would end up being one of your favorites of the fest. Top Knot Detective was hands down that film for me. Being a fan of late 90s Japanese V-Cinema and the occasional televised Samurai melodramas Top Knot hit my sweet spot with its bizarrely hilarious mockumentary take on an ill-fated Samurai show and its fallen star. It’s a story that if you’re a fan of this particular subset of Japanese culture, you’re more than familiar with how it usually pans out. But its how directors Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce craft this narrative out of manufactured interviews, footage from the show and news reels that for fans feels so on point you actually wish it was real.
The film begins with the introduction of the show that ran for a single season in the 90s on Australian TV Ronin Suiri Tentai (or Top Knot Detective). It’s a hyper-violent surreal Samurai series starring bad boy Takashi Takamoto (Toshi Okuzaki) a pop star turned actor, director, producer and editor of what would become one of Japan’s hottest television series. Ronin Suiri Tentai focused on Sheimasu Tantai, a Samurai turned Ronin out for bloody vengeance after the brutal “suicide” of his father/teacher at the hands of his nemesis Haruto Kioke (Masa Yamaguchi). The show produced by Sutaffu a Japanese conglomerate famous for knocking off just about everything used Tantai’s antics both on and off screen to shill for their myriad of products. Its Takamoto’s off screen romance with his Japanese Idol turned co-star that sets in motion the demise of the popular series and the actors career.
Top Knot has Talking heads intercut with bizarre and surreal moments from Ronin Suiri Tentai that involve everything from giant swashbuckling penis monsters, to Tantai swinging a baby by his an umbilical cord as a weapon. It’s this strange dichotomy that shows a profound understanding of what sort of imagery immediately flows to mind when fans think about the dark bowels of Japanese television. This combined with the film portrayal of the politics of Japanese stardom makes this work not just for the casual viewer, but the devotees of the genre as well. The introduction of a Tokusatsu subplot only amplifies my love for this hilariously bizarre film, which just gets so much right it hurts.
I really don’t want to spoil too many of the surprises here, but suffice to say Top Knot Detective is a film I can’t wait to spring my unsuspecting friends. It’s a hilarious deconstruction of the genre by obvious fans who turn in something that honestly is so convincing thanks to its nostalgic roots that it even had me going up until the end of the first act. Bloody, outrageous and surreal films like Top Knot Detective are the reason Fantastic Fests exists to share these films that could only be appreciated by those steeped in the genre. Oh! And definitely stay for the post credits stinger on this one for a joke that hits home for fan fans a particular Italian genre as well. You’ve been warned.