3xHCCH "Parade" is a strange film about five young people, male and female, who share an apartment but hardly knew each other. One girl is obsessed with her eyebrows and her TV soap-opera actor boyfriend. One girl watches rape videos to relax. One guy is a yuppie who likes to run. One guy is a lazy bum student. The newest guy is a meddlesome blond- haired male prostitute. In the two hours of this film, we simply watch these five people go in and out of their apartment, getting involved with their neighbors, their lovers, their curiosities about each other, and a serial killer on the loose in the park. The movie just jumps from one character to the other dealing with random mundane events in their lives. I do not really see a distinct unifying plot. It is all so "stream of consciousness"-like, definitely not for everybody.I guess it is all about how you cannot judge a book by its cover -- how even the most sensible-looking or the most attractive of people have their own share of ugly secrets hidden in their closets. The young actors all did their best in their unusual roles. Unfortunately, everything in the script of director Isao Yukisada felt contrived and unnatural. It did not exactly fly for me.

mangkook Its a Japanese answer to "L'auberge espagnole".That's it.Not really the same issue / story but that's the first thing that pop in my mind when watching Parade.I've been watching many Japanese film and drama but almost none of them comprise of bunch of people sharing a house together. I don't really get it but perhaps Japanese don't like sharing a house unless in dire stress or consider privacy their top priority?This film delights me. Perhaps not really original but it's refreshing, coming from Japan.

janarrah1 At first this movie seems to be a 20-something comedy but it imperceptibly slips into a sinister shocker! I found the individual stories interesting as we changed from chapter to chapter, from point-of- view to point-of-view. The only actor in this film whom I had seen before was Tatsuya Fujiwara but I was intrigued enough to use IMDb to check out films by some of the other actors afterward seeing the film. I also order a couple of the Director's other films. That's the beauty of a Film Festival....you get to discover amazing talent in unexpected places. The acting is uniformly top-notch. The story is really helped with an excellent soundtrack. I liked it enough to want to see it again.....which leads to my questions: Is this available on DVD with English subtitles AND is there a soundtrack CD available? I've tried eBay, Amazon and Google Shopping with no luck. Can anyone give me a lead? Thanks!

kosmasp It seems that this movie had it's world premiere in Berlin (at the International Film Festival), where I had the chance to watch it. It was one of the better movies, that I have watched so far this year. Character study and thriller packed into one movie. And a movie, where you're not sure, where it's going to go next.The fact, that the perspective changes a few times, could have led to a very confusing movie. But the director always has the upper hand and with great editing (and really good acting) he holds the attention of the viewer. And even though you have quite a few characters, you still get a feel for them! And it definitely rewards repeated viewing! I'm looking forward to watch this again!