The spectacular but impractical particle accelerator towers over a rice field tended by an old lady. The juxtaposition of science versus tradition is blatant. The latter seems to serve as a container for experiments to make you wonder what mysterious things she gets up to, but may also reflect her state of mind throughout the film. Other intriguing elements include a roller skating security guard, website-style buttons the characters press to bring up daydreams and flashbacks, and a bowl-shaped dent in the wooden floor of Saraka's room. It makes for some hilarious moments as he tries to get his head around quantum physics and the Big Bang. Not only does this create a reason for the physics to be explained in layman's terms, it also gives us a character who's primarily a sushi chef and a wannabe rockstar. When Miike was struggling to understand the physics in the novel, he came up with the idea to have the student run off overseas and leave his not-so-intellectual identical twin brother Motokazu to take his place for roll call. The film particularly appeals to armchair physicists such as myself, but there's more to it than just that. In fact, it was released just before the sensational headlines about the Large Hadron Collider, so it's unfortunate that it didn't get more attention. God's Puzzle gets mileage out of particle accelerator doomsday fears.

Relatively lighthearted sci-fi based on a novel picked by the producer, and thus quite a departure from Takashi Miike's usual fare.

Kamisama no pazuru