Comedic Deconstruction

The primary weapon Matsumoto uses against the audience to make his commentary on transgender rights is comedic deconstruction. Throughout the film, he regularly frames serious subject matter with comically charged execution in formal elements of filmmaking, specifically channeling the feeling of a Western slapstick movie. He achieves this through the direction of his actors, editing, framing and lighting, and especially soundtrack. The film is jarring to watch even after having already seen it and knowing what to expect because of his unapologetically abrupt shifting from a serious and grounded vibe to a silly goof fest.

On the left are two clips of Eddie during her journey of self searching. On top is a comical foreshadowing of the fight we know is going to happen between Eddie and her pseudo-mother figure which will end with her clawing her own eyes out. In the film this scene serves multiple functions. Firstly, it reinforces to the audience in case they had not already figured it out or read beforehand that this is without a doubt a retelling of Oedipus Rex and we should brace ourselves for the ending we know is inevitable. It also tells us that consistency in tone or what is commonly referred to in film criticism as “clashing tones” is completely unproblematic to Matsumoto, and that the structure, pacing, and editing of the film will not cater to avoiding this. Finally, and perhaps paradoxically to the first function listed, the scene asserts the overall unpredictability of Matsumoto and just how weird this movie is going to be. This scene comes pretty early on, and as a spectator all you can think is “If we are already doing this kind of thing, I cannot even fathom how much crazier this will get”. So although we know the story we are being told because Matsumoto spells out that it is Oedipus Rex, we are still always on the edge of our seats about what could happen next.

The bottom clip is the very end of the film when our predictions become an excruciating reality. Suddenly, for the first time in the entire movie, all the formal elements of the filmmaking amount to making the scene as realistic and dramatic as possible. We switch to traditional Hollywood style continuity editing with long drawn out shots to build suspense. The dreamlike soft focus, playful camera motions, and upbeat character direction is replaced by intense close-ups with mono lighting revealing the sweaty brows of our characters. Instead of a slapstick upbeat soundtrack, we now only hear the sounds of our characters breathing heavily. In short, the ending is a total assault on our emotions and although the content was totally inevitable, we still have trouble watching. But who can we blame but ourselves? Matsumoto has been telling us since the opening scene that his end goal was to mess with our heads. The wound is salted by the final joke of cutting to an insert of a television anchor telling us to tune in next time.