weird world of wool 100%

knit. wear. wail. wreck. repeat.

this is the vicious cycle weaved into the weird story of mai tominaga's award-winning fantasy film, "wool 100%," (2006) a tale about two senior sisters who live in a mansion cluttered with people's junk that they scour the streets for everyday. the knitting madness begins when they stumble into balls of red yarn which they take home. then, one night, a wild, little stranger with serious OCD literally knits her way into the sisters' messy mansion. the sisters are perplexed with this intruder, yet "inventories" her the way they do their found items in dainty sketchbooks, christening her "knit-again," because that's what the girl screams whenever she falls into her banshee mode.

the movie combines watercolor animation, doll puppetry, fairytales, dream-like sequences, pyromania, and sexual naiveté. instead of a yellow brick road as in "wizard of oz," it's a wayward ball of red string that beckons the sisters to follow.