Tag (2015 film)

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Tag
Tag (film) poster.jpeg
Film poster
リアル鬼ごっこ
Directed bySion Sono
Screenplay bySion Sono
Based onRiaru Onigokko
by Yusuke Yamada
StarringReina Triendl
Mariko Shinoda
Erina Mano
Music byMono
Production
company
Sedic Deux Inc.
Distributed byShochiku
Asmik Ace Entertainment
Universal Pictures Japan (via NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan)
Release date
  • July 11, 2015 (2015-07-11)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Tag, known in Japan as Real Onigokko (Japanese: リアル鬼ごっこ, Hepburn: Riaru Onigokko), is a 2015 Japanese action horror film directed by Sion Sono and inspired by the title of the novel Riaru Onigokko by Yusuke Yamada.[1][2][3] It was released in Japan on July 11, 2015.[2] The film's theme song, "Real Onigokko", was written and performed for the movie by the rock band Glim Spanky.[4]

Plot[]

A quiet high school girl named Mitsuko survives a gust of wind that slices through her school bus, bisecting everyone else on board. The wind chases her and kills all the other girls she comes into contact with. Dazed, she stumbles onto a high school campus. She is greeted by girls named Aki, Sur, and Taeko. Aki comforts her and the girls cut class and go to the woods. They muse about whether there are multiple realities with multiple versions of themselves. Sur illustrates predetermination with a white feather, stating that it would mean the time it takes for the feather to fall and where it will land are all decided already. She suggests that fate can be tricked by simply doing something one would never normally do, thus changing the outcome.

Back at school, Mitsuko's teacher suddenly brandishes a machine gun and opens fire, killing all the girls except Mitsuko. As the remaining girls flee, one of them pleads for Mitsuko to think about why this is happening. The remaining girls are then sliced apart by the wind.

Mitsuko finds herself in increasingly bizarre situations where her identity and appearance change: first, as a bride named Keiko on her wedding day with a man who has the head of a pig, then as a student named Izumi in a marathon. In each scenario, she is supported by her friend Aki, and must flee while the surrounding girls are slaughtered.

After encountering a group of revenant girls who try to kill her after stating that so long as she lives, they will continue to die, she is rescued by Aki, who reveals that they are all in a fictional world being observed by "someone" and that this "someone" will continue to kill everyone else unless Mitsuko, as the "main character", does something to change it. Each of the scenarios is a different world, and to reach the final one, Aki says that Mitsuko must brutally kill her. Mitsuko reluctantly does so and a portal opens.

She finds herself in a lewd city called "Men's World," filled with only men who pervertedly enjoy a violent 3D survival horror video game called Tag, depicting Mitsuko, Keiko, and Izumi as playable characters. She passes out and awakens in a temple where all the girls are showcased like mannequins. She finds a decrepit old man playing the game on his TV, showing the various trials she went through, and is horrified to see full-size models of herself, Keiko, Aki, and all the other girls. The man tells her that she is in the future; 150 years ago, she was a girl he had admired as a fellow student. When she died, he took her DNA and that of her friends and made clones for his 3D game. A younger version of the old man appears and strips, beckoning her to come to bed with him. The old man tells her that this final stage is the fulfillment of his deepest wish: to sleep with her.

Mitsuko attacks the younger man, screaming at him to stop playing with girls like toys. She rips one of the pillows, showering the room with feathers. Remembering what Sur said about tricking fate, she commits suicide, to the shock of the old man, who had not made that part of his game. Finding herself once again in the beginning of each scenario, she simultaneously commits suicide on the bus, at the wedding, and during the marathon before any of the violent scenarios can begin. She then awakens alone in a field of white snow and runs away, realizing that "it's over now."

Cast[]

Reception[]

Tag has an 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] In Variety, Richard Kuipers described Tag as "grindhouse meets arthouse", praising the acting and photography.[6] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter lauded the work as "by turns absurd and affecting, bloody and beautiful, carnal and cerebral."[7] Both critics noted the film's feminist undertones.

Awards[]

Year Organization Award Result
2015 Fantasia Film Festival Best Film Won[8]
Best Actress
2015 Fancine Malaga Best film Won[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Todd Brown (April 24, 2015). "Sono Sion Declares War On Schoolgirls With TAG". Twitch Film. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b リアル鬼ごっこ(2015). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
  3. ^ 「原作読まずに映画撮っただって!?」園子温版『リアル鬼ごっこ』が大炎上！ 一部では"逆に"期待の声も（おたぽる、2015年7月11日）
  4. ^ "GLIM SPANKY、園子温版「リアル鬼ごっこ」に楽曲提供". Natalie (in Japanese). 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  5. ^ "TAG (RIARU ONIGOKKO) (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Kuipers, Richard (August 10, 2015). "Film Review: 'Tag'". Variety. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Tsui, Clarence (July 24, 2015). "'Tag' ('Riaru Onigokko'): Bucheon Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Cott, Kaeli Van (2015-08-05). "19th Fantasia International Film Festival Announces 2015 Winners". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  9. ^ "La película japonesa "Tag" obtiene el premio universidad de málaga al mejor largometraje de fancine 2015". Universidad de Málaga (in Spanish). 2015. Retrieved 2020-11-12.

External links[]

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