Executive Koala

2006
Executive Koala
5.9| 1h26m| en| More Info
Released: 14 January 2006 Released
Producted By: THE KLOCKWORX
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Minoru Kawasaki directs this comedic psychological thriller that follows a large koala as he looks for help from several of his closest friends, which include a giant rabbit and frog. A hardworking executive at a pickle company, Mr. Tamura stands out from other employees because he's a koala bear who stands six feet tall. When his human girlfriend is found murdered, the blackout-prone Tamura goes on the run and tries to solve the mystery.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

THE KLOCKWORX

Trailers & Images

Reviews

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Bizarre hardly begins to describe this peculiar offering. Tamura is a divorced company employee about to embark on a new venture with his company. Suddenly is sweetheart is found murdered and he's the prime suspect. Did I mention that Tamura is a koala? No? Oh! The fact that he is a koala doesn't seem to have any bearing on the plot at all. It's more of a strange distraction from the films inability to focus. By the time it gets to amnesia, implanted memories, and a shady past, it is all a bit too much. Certainly enjoyable at times, but when switching from dreamlike martial art sequences and axe murder, you can't really fathom what it's aiming to do.
troops79 This movie is so very special. One minute I was thinking it was the worst movie I'd seen and a minute later think it was one of the funniest. Its a strange one, that is for sure.I've not seen much, if any, Japanese movies so how much of the bad acting is just bad acting or cultural or deliberate, I can't say. Either way, it amused me. As did the pure absurdity of the whole story and where it went. I wouldn't call it a thriller cause I wasn't on the edge of my seat but I definitely wondered where we were going. And when we got there it wasn't what I expected, but isn't that what you want in a movie? I'd like to give a better description of this thing but it is so absurd and so random that I don't know where to begin. If you are wondering if you should watch it, let me put it this way. If you are a fairly mainstream movie going type person the answer is no. If you are a fan of the weird, the funny, the absurd, the surreal, or the slightly off kilter then i say go for it. Was it a good story? eh. Was I entertained? Absolutely.
morten sejer hansen OK this is probably not a movie everybody will enjoy. But I did. I loved Calamari Wrestler and I loved Excecutive Koala even more. The simple idea of having an animal in the lead role (and a few supporting roles) works sooo good. I won't reveal the plot here, but what I really loved about this movie, apart for the animal costumes, is all it different settings and themes - mixed with lame humor and animal suits. This is a comedy. But it also a prison movie, a slasher-flick, a musical, a love story, a drama and a Kung-Fu movie. It seems like the director wanted to incorporate as many different genres and settings in this movie in case he never gets to make another movie again (I hope he does). The result is that you never get bored when watching Executive Koala. It's a low-budget flick with ambitions like a Spielberg movie - The end product is hilarious and awesome. Sure the movie is lame - very lame, but in a good way, which can only make you love it!!
Dan Denholt Writer/Director Kawasaki Minoru shot to cult fame with the infamous "Calamari Wrestler" about a wrestling squid, and he's back in anthropomorphic territory with "Executive Koala".Keiichi Tamura is a hardworking executive in a pickle company, who is making a big merger at work and struggling with memory loss and the mysterious disappearance of his wife three years prior. He's also a koala, which doesn't seem to bother people too much, but then the president of the company is a large white rabbit. Tamura enters the sights of the police when his current girlfriend is found stabbed to death and his murky past seem to imply that he is not the well-mannered Koala he appear to be.On the surface "Executive Koala" takes the shape of a thriller, but delve into weird psychological territory and spices it all up with quite a few surprising twists and turns. Indeed, you never quite know what to expect next as one bizarre scene follows the next, ranging from romance to creepy horror and a musical trial. It doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense and becomes weirder and weirder, but then you were never really gonna get a normal movie when the main character is a suit wearing Koala.A cross between magical realism and surrealist expressionism, "Executive Koala" might be weird for the sake of weird, but unlike David Lynch and his sort, who take that thing very serious under the guise of art, "Executive Koala" is inherently silly and never tries to hide or excuse that."Calamari Wrestler" had a more straight forward and accessible plot and made sense within it's narrative universe. "Executive Koala" doesn't, but then it isn't supposed to. It just comes at you with a wealth of ideas and odd quirky silliness, but you can't help but feel that it's a joke on people who would take this sort of surrealism too serious and engage in deep analysis. "Executive Koala" strength is it's truly quirky reality and one-of-a-kind expression, all the while sending you in one direction wondering where it's going until you realize, "Hey, it's a giant talking koala" and you cannot help but laugh at even the darkest subject matter.You will probably come away wondering what it was all about, but still having been thoroughly entertained and laughed heartily at the goofy silliness of the whole thing. But that's a good and very charming thing.Highly recommended.