A nun drives her jeep through a shimmering, dusty area somewhere in Mexico. This is also where the wrestler and “luchador” Escargot Man prepares for an important fight in a run-down home surrounded by his family. Meanwhile, a Japanese man in brightly polka-dotted pyjamas wakes up in an absurd setting: he is locked in a white room with no doors or windows. However, naked child angels protrude from the walls, reacting miraculously to the touch of their penises ...
In Symbol (Shinboru), Matsumoto Hitoshi succeeds in linking the two seemingly aesthetically and thematically irreconcilable storylines with a metaphysical and philosophical ending. Until then, we follow the snail-man's preparations for his hopeless battle with excitement, wonder and delight, as well as the Japanese man's highly comical attempts to decipher the riddle of the putti angels' reactions and thus escape from prison. Born in 1963, Matsumoto Hitoshi has been performing in Japan as part of a comedy duo since the 1980s and is a celebrated star. Hitoshi has directed numerous TV series. His first film Big Man Japan (Dai-Nihonjin) was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
