Blending computer-animated graphics and live-action cinematography, Jellyfish Eyes (2013) is a coming-of-age tale set in a post-Fukushima world and recalls Japanese monster films of the 1950s while embodying the promise of generational hope.
Jellyfish Eyes tells the story of Masashi, a young boy who moves to a sleepy town in the countryside with his mother in the wake of a natural disaster. After returning home from school one day, Masashi discovers and befriends a flying jellyfish-like creature whom he names Kurage-bo. Masashi soon discovers that all his classmates have similarly magical pets, known as F.R.I.E.N.D.s, which are controlled by electronic devices that the children use to battle one another. Despite their playful appearances, these F.R.I.E.N.D.s turn out to be part of a sinister plot that will threaten the entire town.
The first live-action feature film from writer/director Takashi Murakami, Jellyfish Eyes (2013) combines Murakamiʼs trademark anime-inspired visual aesthetic with broader themes of social change and self-empowerment. The film is on a nine-stop screening tour of art institutions and cultural venues across the United States.
Jellyfish Eyes premiered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Artʼs Bing Theater in April 2013 and was released in theaters throughout Japan immediately thereafter. For this yearʼs U.S. tour, Jellyfish Eyes will be screened for audiences at nine museums across the country.
Born in Tokyo in 1962, Takashi Murakami is one of the most influential and acclaimed artists to have emerged from Asia in the late twentieth century. His work has been exhibited extensively in venues around the world, including the Qatar Museum Authority; Palace of Versailles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Brooklyn Museum; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain, Paris; Serpentine Gallery, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.