BONDI TSUNAMI
Available on DVD September 18, 2007 Through MVD Visual
Zen and the Art of a Cult Classic Music Video Motion Picture
Progressive, totally original, and visually stunning, Australian Japanese cult classic road movie Bondi Tsunami heralds a new genre of 21st century inspired film making; `the music video motion picture’.
Inspired by the Japanese Surfing subculture in Australia, and Australia’s love for all things Japanese, the Bondi Tsunami film follows the psychedelic surfing adventures of four punked up manga inspired Japanese characters who embark on a satirical, existential journey through the spectacular `Zen’ Australian landscape. All that is real is surreal in the Land of Oz; the satirical comic book world of Bondi Tsunami explores the sublime, spectacular dreamscape of Shark (Taki Abe), a chain smoking, asthmatic Japanese surfer cowboy in denial of his own consciousness. Cruising along the north coast towards the Gold Coast, Shark, his friend Yuto, his ex-girlfriend Kimiko and a hitchhiking ghost named Gunja Man, encounter spectacular beaches and surreal tourist attractions, with a similar sense of ‘low-fi cool’ to that of Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train.
Shot on a hand held digital camera in beautiful Australia and edited on a bedroom computer on a budget of 12 credit cards, Bondi Tsunami survived the odds of having a micro budget and a cast of inexperienced Japanese actors and crew, to become a critically acclaimed Australian Cult Classic. Referencing the social revolution, free form `hippy films’ of the Easy rider/ Woodstock era, Bondi Tsunami celebrates a social revolution of a different kind; the Japanese surfer.
The film’s title was inspired by the `big wave’ of bleach blond backpacking, Japanese working holiday students and dropouts that make the rights of passage pilgrimage to Bondi Beach, Sydney Australia in search of sun, surf, salvation and the road trip of a life time. Trading the pressures of Japanese society and the rigors of corporate, salary man life, for a more holistic, free spirited Australian experience, these `new Japanese hippies’ have become a `cool’ and fashionable sub culture within the Australian psyche. Consequently the Bondi Tsunami movie captured the imagination of Australian audiences, when it was picked up as the `pet movie’ of Channel 7’s Sunrise Show (Australian version of the NBC Today show) before going on to launch at Aichi World Expo in Japan 2005 and screen on a successful nightclub tour.
The Bondi Tsunami movie phenomena has since attracted a legion of film critics and a massive following of Japanophile fans from around the world from Brazil, to Germany and India. The film has inherited a Rocky Horror Show / Blues Brothers type cult following amongst many Japanese and Australians, its `undeniably cool’ pop sensibility transcending the East/ West divide. As one of the first Australian films to feature an entire super sexy, super cool Japanese cast, Bondi Tsunami is now set to enchant Americans and Canadians with its unique mixture of Zen philosophy, music video, mixed culture, high fashion, art, manga, surfing and Australian road travel. Rich in mesmerizing color and striking cinematography the film is like a Nintendo Generation’s answer to a Bollywood Musical; although instead of exaggerating sentiments in to songs, it exaggerates sentiments in to music videos.
Designed for a new age of nightclub screens, plasma screen TV’s in sports bars, and home theatre set ups, Bondi Tsunami is a multi platform viewing feature film that can be watched subliminally, as a wall paper movie or as a linear piece. As a `music video motion picture’ the film plays out like a mesmerizing MTV channel, an eclectic visual, Tarantino style soundtrack of electronic, pop, dub, Hawaiian, country and surf guitar. Bondi Tsunami is also one of the first Australian feature films to apply the DJ techniques of sampling, scratching and remixing imagery to its editing.
Bondi Tsunami is a groundbreaking film that is continues to unite Japanophiles, Rock n’ Rollers, Freaks, Misfits and global travelers on video screens around the world!
Official Website: www.bonditsunami.com.au
MySpace: http://myspace.com/bonditsunamiprofile
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