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Disorient Your Brain With Reversed Footage Of A Guy Walking Backwards Through Tokyo

"Tokyo Reverse" is a clip from a 9-hour film that's all in reverse and seriously mind-boggling.

Ever since Spike Jonze's "Drop" video for The Pharcyde, I've been obsessed with videos that include people walking backwards through busy settings and then reversing the film so that there's an idiosyncratic moment when your mind falls apart realizing the trick. Thus, the trailer for Tokyo Reverse, a clip from a 9-hour movie by Simon Bouisson and Ludovic Zuili that follows the latter dude walking backwards through Japan for, well, 9 hours, kept my eyes hooked for five minutes without a single blink (Not. A. Single. Blink.)

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The video is simple but entertaining, as the subject walks through Tokyo city centers, side streets, and even glides up an escalator to overlook a sprawling shopping pavilion. According to the BBC, the full 9-hour video premiered on French TV on March 31st in a segment called Slow TV. One French publication, Le Monde, went so far as todescribe the project as a "small revolution." That same article noted that the actor took dance classes to make his movements look natural.

Well certainly awesome, a "small revolution" might be a bit much—at least when compared to other backwards-forwards masterpieces like the trailer for Flying Lotus's Until The Quiet Comes. Either way, count us in for all 9-hours if they get put online. See some stills from Tokyo Reverse below:

h/t This Is Colossal

@zachsokol