I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Truly Dreadful Film

Good movie but grossly overrated

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I picked originally this movie for watching, because of it's mystery, single room element, which has been covered so well over and over again, without much ingenuity or desire to create something new. Imagine my surprise, when I found this movie to be a guaranteed 100% cult classic masterpiece for the future. It is difficult to describe and analyse all the ingenious subtleties of this yet another wonderful piece of modern cinematic treasure, into which Japan's movie industry has been evolving for a number of years. Some of the most creative pieces of modern cinema have certainly come from Japan during the past 10 years or so.This movie is also weird, very weird in fact, no question about it. But it is so fabulously done, the jokes are funny, they are very funny. All that which shows us, this movie is not only brilliantly thought out, it is even more astonishingly executed, it is even more difficult to find any actual goofs from this one, (as it is from most Japanese movies) - Every single prop seems to be always in it's right place! There are way more thoughts and semantics in this movie, than just a few obscure references to the direction humanity is evolving into. The outline of a man trapped inside a room, which he is clearly destined to escape from, is only faintly veiled depiction of humanity itself, which is only given purpose by creating comedy, when seemingly random objects start popping out of the walls, if we bother to manipulate, or pull the "right" levers, as in life in itself in the real outside world. The comic slapstick routines which Hitoshi Matsumoto so superbly and funnily pulls off, are truly funny, obviously the work of a master comedian, who knows extremely well the physical side of comedy, as well as the importance of sounds, facial expressions, movements and timing. And while you're watching the movie unfold, you will most certainly notice that you will start yourself imagining the infinitely various ways how he could (or should) escape from the room, using the objects found in the room. And at the same time, you can only smile and laugh for how much fun and comedy one can pull from a bottle of soy sauce, toilet plunger, sushi and a hanging rope.The other worthy observation is the parallel story line, which from the outline has absolutely nothing to do with our antagonist in his bright white room, this fact is even underlined by showing us that it happens as far away from Japan as possible, in Mexico, in the world of Luchador wrestler's family and work place, the wrestling ring. Naturally this so far removed place, with its people who are so far removed from our antagonist, must somehow be tied together, at point which the movie evolves into completely different spheres, becoming more surreal and fantasy driven. The viewer however, is not left out in the cold, as if you were watching closely from the beginning, you will understand everything when the movie ends.What a brilliant, weird, intelligent, clever and hilarious movie!

Many viewers may find this film or the main character quite idiotic or stupid but those who enjoy physical comedy should get a lot out of it.A very creative and imaginative concept with man in bright spotted pyjamas trapped in a white walled room. On the walls are hundreds of 'buttons'.With no visible way out of the room, the man becomes desperate and curious and one by one begins to press the buttons, with each button delivering odd 'products' and 'ojects' that are seemingly no help to him getting out of the room.At the same time, a parallel storyline runs of the real world, with an underdog Mexican wrestler getting ready for a bout.The two story lines come together with mixed results.I found the film to be very entertaining although was a little disappointed with the third act.Funny and offering something different than the usual Apatow 'hits' churned out by Hollywood.Anyone who likes early Jim Carrey style physical slapstick might enjoy this.

When is a sub genre born? Does it simply derive from a formula or certain elements that are reused often enough? Or can it be a set of expectations you bring into the theater with you? I ask because Symbol seems to be deliberately riffing on all of these things, trying to find the line where familiar tropes become, well, symbols. It plays both with a familiar sub genre and a less-familiar setup that's on the verge of becoming a sub genre at this point; you could even argue that this is the movie that pushes it over.For most of its running time, Symbol seems to be two completely unrelated movies running parallel to each other. One is a Mexican Lucha Libre movie (or maybe "short film" is more appropriate, given the relatively small amount of running time it involves). It's perfectly conventionally shot and with a simple narrative; the wrestler Escargot Man prepares for a tag team match, while a kid in the audience cheers him on.The other storyline is deliberately, seemingly perversely different. A nameless Japanese man (comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, who also wrote and directed) wakes up in a featureless white room about the size of a bachelor apartment, wearing a set of candy-colored pajamas and a ridiculous bowl cut. He has no idea how he got there. Exploring the room, he finds exactly one notable feature: a button on the wall shaped like, uh, male genitalia. Pressing it triggers an explosion of cherubs from the wall, who leave behind...more penis-shaped buttons. Pressing those buttons, in turn, triggers a bizarre and seemingly useless array of objects that come shooting out of the walls, along with other, generally disagreeable effects (like one which turns into a butt and farts toxic fumes at him). Eventually, though, some of the buttons start to reveal their potential usefulness in mounting an escape...except that whoever trapped him in this room seems determined to screw with his head.Believe it or not, all this weirdness turns out to be headed somewhere relatively straightforward. I mean, it's still a weird movie that I'm sure even Matsumoto wouldn't be able to explain completely, employing as it does Lynchian dream logic and a love of the absurd for the absurd's sake. But the two threads do end up coming together in a way that...well, "makes sense" might not be the way to put it, but they do come together to make a point. The movie makes an attempt at profundity near the end which is a lot more palatable for being weird and slightly inexplicable.Up until then, aside from the slight and seemingly straightforward Luchadore subplot, the movie is a one-man show. Matsumoto unfortunately depends a little too much on mugging and acting zanily idiotic--the character he's playing makes a number of choices that reveal him to be a dimbulb--but the situation is a natural one for humor, especially as the faceless forces that control the room seem to enjoy tormenting him. There's also a hilarious recurring sequence in which comic book panels narrate Pajamas Guy's various plans for escape while Matsumoto grooves out in the foreground. (And the narration is in English for some reason!) I'm not sure if "Shinboru" has some other shading of meaning that doesn't translate well into English--I'm assuming that the Symbol of the title refers to the little penis-buttons (yeah, I knew writing this review was going to be awkward), but it also seems to relate to the various motifs and elements we expect in a genre story, and the storyteller's attempt to break free of them. In that sense, this is an extremely meta movie. One thing's for sure, if the movie's about helping to define genres, than its clearly staking out a patch of ground under "bizarre Japanese mindfu**".

I saw this movie at the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival, and I loved it! In retrospect, I could have ended up hating it just as well!Shinboru is a very odd situational comedy. It's silly yet artsy, thoughtful in parts, anarchic in its delivery and overall nuts. To this day, I have no idea what it was about, its meaning, what it's meant to *symbolize*. I enjoyed it immensely, though, and found it especially hilarious with the geeky festival crowd commenting irreverently at the screen. It might not be as fun if you're watching it alone in your living room.