One particularly heated discussion followed the French film Ils from David Moreau and Xavier Palud. But what about the more serious films in the festival that could be accused of hiding a lack of substance beneath a stylistic sheen? And of all the films I enjoyed, how many of them would fall flat outside the context of the festival and the infectious enthusiasm of its dedicated audience? Executive Koala is clearly ridiculous and must be taken as such. But at what point does a stylistic element slip from a justifiable aesthetic decision into the land of the gratuitous? Everyone has their line, and its position was the subject of debates some of us were having in the post-screening lobby circles when value judgments tend to fly high. If there’s a moral here somewhere then it must hinge on this dilemma: would I like the film if it didn’t feature a guy in a Koala suit? Or is the Koala just a gimmick that carries the film through its lack of substance (at least for those of us hopelessly enamored with full-body animal costumes)? Yes, it’s probably just a gimmick with little beneath the surface of the mask. But is he under so much stress that he might actually be violently abusive to his girlfriend while remaining completely unaware of his actions? That is the question.
He dashes from one important meeting to the next while sweating profusely from his furry forehead, embodying the early heart-attack candidate that has come to symbolize the unbalanced work ethic of the stereotypical Japanese salaryman. Why did I like it? An eager businesskoala works hard to help a Japanese canned food company break onto the Korean market. It ended up being one of my highlights for Fantasia 2006, and the Koala was an excellent choice as mascot for this year’s festival. Though the response to Koala was less enthusiastic, it was still very well received. Not since the hey-day of midnight Santo screenings have I seen an audience respond the way they did to the guy in the rubber squid suit. Last year we were blessed by the presence of the Calamari Wrestler, to date one of the finest screening experiences of my festival-going life. Mackey and effectively branding 2006 as year of the Koala at Fantasia. The postcards were all over town, that giant Koala head jutting out of the collar of an ordinary man’s business suit, proportionally reminiscent of South Park’s Mr.
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