I went to this movie with great hopes. Knowing it was written by a zen student, I too a zen student looked forward. I was not disappointed. Some cliché and old myths run by, yet the creativity and NOIR style of the film was excellent. It was very funny as well. My concern is that the film may best be appreciated by those in the know on zen only. But I have recommended this film to every 'spiritual' person I know. Dealing with the notion of death and change is not an easy thing, but this film deals with these issues in an amusing, enjoyable, yet penetratingly deep fashion. The inclusion of Kim Chan is a stroke of genius. He's great as the old zen master.
18 Reviews
You don't have to like Oranges to love this one.
marcvann-111 September 2006
Wow. You won't see ANY films like this. Completely original. Funny, mysterious, slightly disturbing. HIghly recommend. And, if you know anything about Zen Buddhism, a must see. This filmmaker has created a little work of art in Zen Noir. It takes you on a ride that is constantly throwing you off balance, and whacking your synapses in weird places, but in a humorous almost loving way. He creatively merges the worlds of Film Noir and Zen Buddhism, and they blend together perfectly. You definitely leave with more questions than you went in with. I'd tell ya more, but I don't want to be a spoiler. Actually, I think this is unspoilable. I'm still not even sure what happened.
For the Truly Light Hearted...Buddha meets David Lynch with some Python thrown in
tiana-blackburn1 June 2004
At the Moondance Festival in Boulder, CO. the small Chataqua community house was packed to the rafters as the movie that won the Sand Castle award for "best feature film" played. The questions people ask is how did he set the orange on fire (and there were lots of oranges) and where did he get the idea to make a farce about a comical noir detective using ancient Chinese Buddhist humor? And at the same time, he raises existential questions (not answering every one of them for us) to leave us with a movie koan to watch over and over again. It was the easiest meditation I sat through (yes you had to sit for 71 minutes) but the pythonesque humor gets you through it...theater that lives on and on. Kim Chan fans should try to stay until the end of the credits, if they want to see him having fun, too. Beautiful imagery, fine performances.
neither zen nor noir, but a crude dumbing-down of each.
daishin12 October 2006
Relentlessly revisits all the clichés and avoids subtleties. Could have been both amusing and evocative, but misses both by a mile. Too bad.
Acting: one-dimensional Direction: self-indulgent Music: intrusive, pretentious Writing: a series of sketches without overall coherence. Bad SNL quality.
The reliance on cheap sight-gags and the apparent unfamiliarity of cast and director with actual Zen practice left this viewer wishing there had been a more thorough effort to capture the flavor and rhythms of an actual zendo.
For a far more successful - and funny - movie in a zen setting, see "Enlightenment Guaranteed".
Acting: one-dimensional Direction: self-indulgent Music: intrusive, pretentious Writing: a series of sketches without overall coherence. Bad SNL quality.
The reliance on cheap sight-gags and the apparent unfamiliarity of cast and director with actual Zen practice left this viewer wishing there had been a more thorough effort to capture the flavor and rhythms of an actual zendo.
For a far more successful - and funny - movie in a zen setting, see "Enlightenment Guaranteed".
"In" Humor at the Zendo
cadmandu23 August 2006
A detective receives a call about a murder at the Buddhist Temple. He enters the Zendo, with his gun drawn, and pointing it at the rows of black-clad, shaven-headed meditators, shouts "Nobody move!" Now, if you get the humor in that, this film is for you. If you do not get the humor in that, please avoid this one; you'll feel bored, confused, and cheated.
This is a clever little Indie about the zen experience. The casting is good, the dialog sufficient. It's funny and sad and pithy and cosmic, and the writer/director struggled for many years to make it happen, but it's a film for insiders only. There was a steady stream of people leaving the theatre the night I saw it - maybe 20% of the audience left the place -- which is unusual for San Francisco. People are usually on the patient side here, especially with "art films" and exotica. Even I did not stay for q & a with Rosenbush. As I mingled with the crowd leaving the theatre at the end of the film I was hearing a lot of negative comments, but they were the comments of people who had no idea what they had just seen. How many people have a background in emptiness and egolessness? These are just not common concepts in American pop culture.
This film is opening in a dozen cities next month, which is good, but there should be a disclaimer so a lot of people don't waste their money, time and attention, and give it a bad rap, which it definitely does not deserve.
P.S. For a much more accessible treatment of Buddhism, see the diamond-perfect Korean film "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again." No pre-requisites for that one.
P.P.S. - I got a real kick out of the review from Boulder. Ha! If there ever was a film made for Boulder Buddhists, this is it. Probably the only place on earth, outside Dharmsala, that would draw a packed house and a standing ovation. ha!
This is a clever little Indie about the zen experience. The casting is good, the dialog sufficient. It's funny and sad and pithy and cosmic, and the writer/director struggled for many years to make it happen, but it's a film for insiders only. There was a steady stream of people leaving the theatre the night I saw it - maybe 20% of the audience left the place -- which is unusual for San Francisco. People are usually on the patient side here, especially with "art films" and exotica. Even I did not stay for q & a with Rosenbush. As I mingled with the crowd leaving the theatre at the end of the film I was hearing a lot of negative comments, but they were the comments of people who had no idea what they had just seen. How many people have a background in emptiness and egolessness? These are just not common concepts in American pop culture.
This film is opening in a dozen cities next month, which is good, but there should be a disclaimer so a lot of people don't waste their money, time and attention, and give it a bad rap, which it definitely does not deserve.
P.S. For a much more accessible treatment of Buddhism, see the diamond-perfect Korean film "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again." No pre-requisites for that one.
P.P.S. - I got a real kick out of the review from Boulder. Ha! If there ever was a film made for Boulder Buddhists, this is it. Probably the only place on earth, outside Dharmsala, that would draw a packed house and a standing ovation. ha!
Fails to be more than a series of in-jokes
denial-638-11960018 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is marketed as funny, noir, artsy and about zen. It very quickly ceases to be funny. It then takes too long to admit that: 1) all its pretenses at plot are leading nowhere, 2) it will give you a (zen) buddhist lesson instead and 3) it thinks this lesson is worth your attention.
A (zen) buddhist might think this is a good idea, and might go on to comment on whether this lesson was well given. To a non-buddhist, however, the movie fails to explain what it thinks is so interesting about zen to merit making a movie about it. It makes zen look like an oddly dysfunctional state of mind, perhaps a state of heightened readiness to regard anything as deeply profound.
This movie is attempting to be more than a series of zen buddhist in-jokes, but it is too drunk on those to make a good attempt. It fails to connect the Detective's problem with any real person's problem, let alone the viewer's. It rudely refuses to be comprehended ands seems to be content with making sense on its own terms. As a lesson, or sermon, the movie fails.
It can still make sense to those "in the know", and I gather that it does. However, those people tend to be the ones that can find sense in anything, so that's not a recommendation for the movie either.
I give it 3 out of 10. One because that is the minimum. One because the movie evidently did make me care enough to write this review. And one for the very last scene of the movie, which was nicely done and worth remembering. I won't recommend the full movie, but I might show this final scene to a few people.
A (zen) buddhist might think this is a good idea, and might go on to comment on whether this lesson was well given. To a non-buddhist, however, the movie fails to explain what it thinks is so interesting about zen to merit making a movie about it. It makes zen look like an oddly dysfunctional state of mind, perhaps a state of heightened readiness to regard anything as deeply profound.
This movie is attempting to be more than a series of zen buddhist in-jokes, but it is too drunk on those to make a good attempt. It fails to connect the Detective's problem with any real person's problem, let alone the viewer's. It rudely refuses to be comprehended ands seems to be content with making sense on its own terms. As a lesson, or sermon, the movie fails.
It can still make sense to those "in the know", and I gather that it does. However, those people tend to be the ones that can find sense in anything, so that's not a recommendation for the movie either.
I give it 3 out of 10. One because that is the minimum. One because the movie evidently did make me care enough to write this review. And one for the very last scene of the movie, which was nicely done and worth remembering. I won't recommend the full movie, but I might show this final scene to a few people.
Zen and the art of no budget film making
petesherratt11 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Clearly, from the other reviews this is a film you either love or hate. The detective feels he must solve the mystery but is there any mystery? If you can persevere through the low production values, rather clunky acting and script that seems to be going nowhere in the first half of this film I think you will find the payoff later on more than worthwhile. I found the film witty, clever and, finally, moving. The parable of the orange told by the zen master is a story I do not think I will ever forget. Also it shows what you can do with a DV camera, a few friends, and a brain. Can be seen online now for free at indie movies dot com.
What is the sound of one hand NOT clapping?
synergistic24 August 2006
Boring, pretentious, preachy, visually deadening, awful acting, terrible dialogue, claustrophobic, unsympathetic characters, fake spirituality, bad jokes, alienating music track, and the director hasn't a clue that he's not ready for prime time. What's not to like? The preview audience walked out either during the movie or during the final credits, and chose not to stay for the director's comments. The movie title promises something interesting: a noir story with a non-rational, zen twist or frame that takes the mystery into another dimension. But the director's style is just a parody of noir films, with a stereotyped detective investigating a presumed murder, narrated in voice-over. Only the sex makes it somewhat interesting. But maybe not worth sitting through 71 minutes.
What is the sound of one film being excellent?
UncleTantra4 June 2010
The pre-credits opening scene of Marc Rosenbush's 2004 film "Zen Noir" shows an undershirt-wearing, unshaven, classic film noir detective gazing at himself in the bathroom mirror and saying in voice-over, "The morning fog clung to the city like the scent of desperation on an aging drag queen. Why do I talk this way?" Marc had me at the title of his film, but these first lines clinched the deal.
I stumbled upon the title of this movie in a list of Zen-related films on the IMDb. Never having heard of it before, I looked it up, and immediately set about getting myself a copy of it. "What is not to like," thought I, "about a movie that combines a love of film noir with Zen?" The answer to that koan, as it turns out, is very Zen in itself: Nothing.
Still in voice-over, our nameless detective describes how he got involved in his latest case: "I'd been up all night and had just hit the feathers when the phone went off like Easter Sunday in my skull. A guy with an accent -- Japanese maybe -- said to haul ass to the temple, 'cause someone is about to die. 'What temple,' I said, 'and who the hell are you?' but he'd already hung up. Three synagogues later it occurred to me that there aren't a lot of Chinese Jews, so I wound up here -- barely conscious, half asleep, and with a murder to solve." Cut to a Zen monk banging on a gong to call the monks to practice. The monks arrive, and sit there meditating. The first monk suddenly utters a kind of grunt and falls over, dead. The other monks at first just keep meditating, and then two of them look quizically at each other, like "What now?" Then the detective barges in wearing a trenchcoat and pointing a gun at everybody. "Nobody move," he says. Nobody was moving before. Then he says, "OK, who's in charge here?" and the two monks who looked at each other earlier turn and point to him. "My kinda movie," thought I.
Low-budget without looking it, this guy's first (and so far only) movie is a delight. Not Academy Award material, but a lot of fun, especially for a group of seekers watching it together and passing around the tofu popcorn while chuckling. Funny, and even with a spiritual lesson or two to teach, because it proposes a truly excellent koan.
Spiritual seekers are all detectives, eating an orange and trying to solve the mystery of their own inevitable murder at the hands of life. The koan posed by this film's Zen Master is, "You gonna freak out, or eat orange?" If you can find it, I suspect you'd really like this film. If nothing else, it's full of great one-liners you can chuckle over with friends like yourself who might like this sorta thing. Don't bogart the tofu.
I stumbled upon the title of this movie in a list of Zen-related films on the IMDb. Never having heard of it before, I looked it up, and immediately set about getting myself a copy of it. "What is not to like," thought I, "about a movie that combines a love of film noir with Zen?" The answer to that koan, as it turns out, is very Zen in itself: Nothing.
Still in voice-over, our nameless detective describes how he got involved in his latest case: "I'd been up all night and had just hit the feathers when the phone went off like Easter Sunday in my skull. A guy with an accent -- Japanese maybe -- said to haul ass to the temple, 'cause someone is about to die. 'What temple,' I said, 'and who the hell are you?' but he'd already hung up. Three synagogues later it occurred to me that there aren't a lot of Chinese Jews, so I wound up here -- barely conscious, half asleep, and with a murder to solve." Cut to a Zen monk banging on a gong to call the monks to practice. The monks arrive, and sit there meditating. The first monk suddenly utters a kind of grunt and falls over, dead. The other monks at first just keep meditating, and then two of them look quizically at each other, like "What now?" Then the detective barges in wearing a trenchcoat and pointing a gun at everybody. "Nobody move," he says. Nobody was moving before. Then he says, "OK, who's in charge here?" and the two monks who looked at each other earlier turn and point to him. "My kinda movie," thought I.
Low-budget without looking it, this guy's first (and so far only) movie is a delight. Not Academy Award material, but a lot of fun, especially for a group of seekers watching it together and passing around the tofu popcorn while chuckling. Funny, and even with a spiritual lesson or two to teach, because it proposes a truly excellent koan.
Spiritual seekers are all detectives, eating an orange and trying to solve the mystery of their own inevitable murder at the hands of life. The koan posed by this film's Zen Master is, "You gonna freak out, or eat orange?" If you can find it, I suspect you'd really like this film. If nothing else, it's full of great one-liners you can chuckle over with friends like yourself who might like this sorta thing. Don't bogart the tofu.
May Or May Not Be Your Cup Of Tea
Lechuguilla10 August 2011
As a reasonably good cinematic demonstration of the outward practice of Zen, "Zen Noir" will resonate with some viewers, annoy others, the difference owing largely to the exotic nature of the topic. The film is nothing if not different. A shallow, assembly-line Hollywood teen flick it is not.
With few exceptions, the story takes place in a meditation room, known as a Zendo. Enter a frazzled, 1940s-style "detective" trying to solve a murder. He's something of a blockhead, at least to begin with. But the contrast between his chaotic drama on the one hand, and the quiescence of the Zen students on the other, is stark, which thus conveys to some extent the point of Zen. The Zen students constantly offer the detective a cup of tea, which only frustrates and exasperates this "important" man trying to solve an "important" puzzle.
The film is in color, but most scenes appear in varying shades of black and white, with other muted tints thrown in for variety. Shadows and geometric angles add visual interest. Camera work involves lots of close-up shots. Music trends eclectic. Funky jazz alternates with complex music suggestive of the cosmic, and gong sounds punctuate throughout.
Dialogue veers toward elliptical terseness at times followed by periods of silence, during which the visuals convey the underlying message. Humor runs through the entire film. Sometimes the humor is subtle; sometimes it is more obvious.
Viewers who prefer conventional plots and big-budget Hollywood-style films will not have the patience to sit through this film. To these viewers "Zen Noir" will come across as boring or pretentious or both. For me, this low budget, indie film works. I give it high marks for originality, unusual visuals, great sound mixing, and thematic depth.
With few exceptions, the story takes place in a meditation room, known as a Zendo. Enter a frazzled, 1940s-style "detective" trying to solve a murder. He's something of a blockhead, at least to begin with. But the contrast between his chaotic drama on the one hand, and the quiescence of the Zen students on the other, is stark, which thus conveys to some extent the point of Zen. The Zen students constantly offer the detective a cup of tea, which only frustrates and exasperates this "important" man trying to solve an "important" puzzle.
The film is in color, but most scenes appear in varying shades of black and white, with other muted tints thrown in for variety. Shadows and geometric angles add visual interest. Camera work involves lots of close-up shots. Music trends eclectic. Funky jazz alternates with complex music suggestive of the cosmic, and gong sounds punctuate throughout.
Dialogue veers toward elliptical terseness at times followed by periods of silence, during which the visuals convey the underlying message. Humor runs through the entire film. Sometimes the humor is subtle; sometimes it is more obvious.
Viewers who prefer conventional plots and big-budget Hollywood-style films will not have the patience to sit through this film. To these viewers "Zen Noir" will come across as boring or pretentious or both. For me, this low budget, indie film works. I give it high marks for originality, unusual visuals, great sound mixing, and thematic depth.
Water boarding may be more pleasant than watching this film.
chuck898719 September 2006
This movie is related to a failed attempt at meditating. Let this be a lesson to everyone. If you cannot meditate, do not use that failure to compose a wooden brain dead attempt at a movie. According to the director it took him 13 years to come up with this crap. This movie should be listed in the Geneva Conventions because sitting through it was an experience in torture. Poorly written, badly staged, dreadfully acted. The director happens to be a pretentious name dropper who has supposedly been a stage director. I find it impossible to imagine he's ever done anything worthwhile. This is a film to send your enemies and the most pretentious people to.
Best (and only) zen murder-mystery comedy I've ever seen!
ellenbgroves3 August 2005
If David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch and the Buddha ever got together to make a film, this would be it. Zen Noir is that rare movie which engages you on every level mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And it's also funny as hell!! Rosenbush has a thorough understanding of both the noir genre AND zen practice, and he has managed somehow to merge them inside a single story. The gorgeous, powerful visuals and beautiful, haunting score reminded me of Bertolluci's Little Buddha, but with less sentimentality and more belly laughs. Deep and slapstick, sad and surreal, this is a truly inspiring work of art. Marc Rosenbush is one of the most original filmmakers I've come across in a long time, and I'm really excited to see what he does next!
Dull, lifeless and pretentious
thomas-korn26 May 2022
The dialogue is silly and trite. If it were delivered by a real actor, it could have worked. However, the lead "actor" could not sell this at all.. Watching it, I felt that Patrick Wharburton could have sold the silly dialogue flawlessly...but alas, the producers of this "movie" wanted to cast their friend who clearly should never try to act again.
An involved mystery with tons of fabulous strangeness!
Invisiboy15 August 2006
Some potential viewers might dismiss this film because it is under 90 minutes long, which means it's not "feature length," but that would be doing the film a terrible disservice. Sure, it's "only" 71 minutes, but all 71 are well-spent, layering a sexy, strange mystery inside a world few of us Americans ever see. You'll never notice that it isn't a full-length film. And you won't be bored, not once.
A friend I saw the film with said the directing style was David Lynch-ish, but I cannot agree. I find that David Lynch sticks weird stuff in his movies to try to appear "arty," but in "Zen Noir" the strangeness just seems to fit effectively into the story without being distracting or pretentious (problems I have with Lynch films).
Also, this film is downright FUNNY. The lead actor is a hoot (even though it took me a little while to get used to his stylized acting), and the way the "calmer" characters interact with him really cracked me up.
Overall, this is an intelligent piece of cinema that a wide audience can certainly enjoy! It's very accessible, meaningful, mysterious, strange, funny and challenging. See it, see it, see it!
A friend I saw the film with said the directing style was David Lynch-ish, but I cannot agree. I find that David Lynch sticks weird stuff in his movies to try to appear "arty," but in "Zen Noir" the strangeness just seems to fit effectively into the story without being distracting or pretentious (problems I have with Lynch films).
Also, this film is downright FUNNY. The lead actor is a hoot (even though it took me a little while to get used to his stylized acting), and the way the "calmer" characters interact with him really cracked me up.
Overall, this is an intelligent piece of cinema that a wide audience can certainly enjoy! It's very accessible, meaningful, mysterious, strange, funny and challenging. See it, see it, see it!
"I do know my name, but I don't know who I am"
xorm9 March 2008
The summary was the comment our 7 years old son launched after watching the movie. Yup, he managed to concentrate through it. Maybe he was fascinated because the people in the movie sit on the same kind of cushions that can be found from our living room. He has also visited our city zendo in Helsinki and knows his family members are into this stuff.
This is a piece of art that made me laugh and cry. Laugh because of the obvious bad jokes that surface while these two "genres" clash; and cry because of emotional discharge caused by explaining the essence of an orange. If you know the tradition - just watch it. If you do not enjoy sitting still and watching the blank wall - you might find this movie challenging.
This is a piece of art that made me laugh and cry. Laugh because of the obvious bad jokes that surface while these two "genres" clash; and cry because of emotional discharge caused by explaining the essence of an orange. If you know the tradition - just watch it. If you do not enjoy sitting still and watching the blank wall - you might find this movie challenging.
Movie For Spiritual Seekers & Gifted People Only
shriram-karpur1 August 2009
I was searching for spiritual movies on Google and this movie was listed in one of the lists. I am happy I saw this movie. I was always wondering if after Matrix, there was any other movie which can make a point. I would like to thank the director, producer and writer of this movie for their compassion to share ZEN with the world. Create many more such movies. It makes the world a better place. OSHO is my master, a great Indian master. Listen to his discourses in English and Hindia, u will start making sense of this movie. Blood Sport, is another good movie. Listen to OSHO - The Last Testament, The mustered seed, My way the way of the clouds. Osho - The Day I Became Enlightened, Osho Video - Beyond Enlightenment.
Actually, a perfect movie
rzajac23 May 2016
It's weird to say, especially for a (by Hollywood standards) sort of second-string production like Zen Noir (ZN), but it's arguably a perfect movie.
Just watched it again, and it's a sterling depiction of the "lure" of Zen: That a person in the throes of bewilderment goes within.
It's as close as you're going to get to squaring a certain circle: The circle of bending the existential question to a framing suitable to filmic exposition; the exposition of... East Meets West: A Twain Collision?
It's really as simple as that.
Check it out.
Just watched it again, and it's a sterling depiction of the "lure" of Zen: That a person in the throes of bewilderment goes within.
It's as close as you're going to get to squaring a certain circle: The circle of bending the existential question to a framing suitable to filmic exposition; the exposition of... East Meets West: A Twain Collision?
It's really as simple as that.
Check it out.
Adequate
oecobius5 August 2013
"Zen Noir" is overall an enjoyable film with a decent storyline, but it has many amateurish elements that weaken the production significantly.
The story involves a nameless detective investigating a possible murder at a Buddhist temple, only to find his perspective on life challenged and transformed as he learns more about the situation. It's a simple concept that presents a pretty broad illustration of some Buddhist tenets, but the detective's character arc is engaging and strong enough to carry the story. I did not find the film's treatment of Buddhism too esoteric, as it concentrates mostly on the detective's perspective and growth.
The writing is mostly clever but has uneven parts. Despite the film's overall dedication to witty and unexpected dialogue, it includes moments like a sophomoric "laypeople are people who can get laid" joke. The comedic aspects in general feel very forced and weak, consisting of silly and predictable gags or very awkward slapstick. The director clearly didn't know how to make slapstick acting visually funny but insisted on trying a few times anyway, disrupting the film's otherwise thoughtful flow.
The detective and the monks are adequate actors, but the woman playing Jane proved very dull and tedious. It felt as if she was cast primarily to pad out the film by speaking very, very slowly as if she was bored with the script. The biggest problem with Jane is that we're supposed to care about her character, but she doesn't have any particular appeal or even interesting qualities.
The film is only 70 minutes, though, so if the concept of a hard-boiled detective investigating at a Buddhist temple sounds entertaining or amusing, you can probably get some enjoyment from Zen Noir. Honestly, if this film had been cut down to a mere 45 minutes, it would probably have contained all its necessary and most engaging elements.
The story involves a nameless detective investigating a possible murder at a Buddhist temple, only to find his perspective on life challenged and transformed as he learns more about the situation. It's a simple concept that presents a pretty broad illustration of some Buddhist tenets, but the detective's character arc is engaging and strong enough to carry the story. I did not find the film's treatment of Buddhism too esoteric, as it concentrates mostly on the detective's perspective and growth.
The writing is mostly clever but has uneven parts. Despite the film's overall dedication to witty and unexpected dialogue, it includes moments like a sophomoric "laypeople are people who can get laid" joke. The comedic aspects in general feel very forced and weak, consisting of silly and predictable gags or very awkward slapstick. The director clearly didn't know how to make slapstick acting visually funny but insisted on trying a few times anyway, disrupting the film's otherwise thoughtful flow.
The detective and the monks are adequate actors, but the woman playing Jane proved very dull and tedious. It felt as if she was cast primarily to pad out the film by speaking very, very slowly as if she was bored with the script. The biggest problem with Jane is that we're supposed to care about her character, but she doesn't have any particular appeal or even interesting qualities.
The film is only 70 minutes, though, so if the concept of a hard-boiled detective investigating at a Buddhist temple sounds entertaining or amusing, you can probably get some enjoyment from Zen Noir. Honestly, if this film had been cut down to a mere 45 minutes, it would probably have contained all its necessary and most engaging elements.
See also
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