Incomplete Chairs plays like a mix between Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho yet stands on its own as a gleefully demented oddity well worth your time.
Co-written and directed by Kenichi Ugana, Incomplete Chairs follows Shinsuke Kujo (Ryu Ichinose), a talented chairmaker with a taste for the macabre. When we first meet him, he's interviewing for a new assistant. Happily, Shinsuke informs his candidate that they can work together and bludgeons the poor sap to death.
Shinsuke meets Natsuko (Ryôka Ôshima), an art buyer initially uninterested in the convoluted designs her client has brought. When Shinsuke promises that his next one will be something spectacular, Natsuko is intrigued. What follows is a tense and often unsettlingly funny game of cat and mouse as Shinsuke lures in new victims to build his masterpiece.
Ugana's sleight of hand in blending genre conventions and expectations works beautifully. Just as you're comfortable in thinking Incomplete Chairs is a pitch black comedy, it pummels you with gore, only to turn around and offer slapstick in the next scene. A lesser film would feel incoherent and aimless, yet Ugana never lets the tone slip away from him. This is so confidently put together that even the most outlandish moments feel logical within the established rules.
A lot of the thanks must go to Ichinose and Ôshima, who understand their material perfectly. Ichinose hits a fantastic middle ground between an awkward and stuck-up artist and unhinged serial killer beautifully. He has the detached air of someone that others will project their own desires onto, which allows us to understand why Natsuko so desperately wants him to be more than he actually is.
Ôshima plays the part of a naive and assertive art enthusiast equally well. She matches Ichniose in intensity, offering him a verbal and emotional outlet and counterpart that challenges his views on his craft. This, in turn, proves hilarious when we remember what kind of furniture he's actually making.
The film wobbles a bit midway through as Ugana moves the pieces around for his thrilling climax. By the time the third act rolls around, Incomplete Chairs delivers a rousing and uncomfortable finale that's sure to satisfy genre fans. If it got there just a little bit sooner, it would be even more effective.
But it's hard to complain when the rest of the film is this assured and composed. Incomplete Chairs isn't for the squeamish, but those willing to bounce around between genres will delight in the dark and brutal offering at hand.
