“Mihiro Kaneko’s incredibly rich performance does not only engages the spectator from start to finish, but allows Yuko’s subjective turmoil, her flight from the societal Other, and her search for an Other that, by lying beyond, can offer salvation to attain its compelling genuineness.”
Category: Sexuality
What she Likes (2021) review [22nd Nippon Connection]
“Kusano succeeds in delivering a quite atypical romance narrative.”
The End Of The Pale Hour (2021) review [22nd Nippon Connection]
Matsumoto delivers an amazing narrative that allows the spectator to realize that imaginary pleasure offers little protection against the oppressing demands of the society and imaginary injuries dealt by others.
Popran (2022) review [22nd Nippon Connection]
“A great narrative that questions in a light-hearted way the relation between the male subject and his member as well as the role the real member plays within the fantasmatic world of men.”
Backlight (2021) [22nd Nippon Connection]
An elegantly constructed and highly impactful exploration of the inhibiting fear of being rejected by one’s beloved.
A Madder Red (2021) review [Nippon Connection 2022]
Machiko Ono and Yuki Katayama breathe extra-ordinary life and realism into the pain, the hopes, the white lies, the tears, the smiles, and the anger of contemporary female subjects subjected to a phallically-structured societal system. Highly recommended.
Gonza the Spearman (1986) review
“A fabulous narrative that offers a satisfying exploration of the tragedy of phallic ambition and the destructive potential of desire.”
Our House Party (2022) review [OAFF 2022]
Kawanobe delivers a very touching and emotional story about homosexuality in Japan.
Far Away, Further Away (2022) review [OAFF 2022]
“A beautiful film that elegantly explores the role the imaginary plays in marital failure as well as in the beginning of a new romantic bond.”
Short Movie Time: The Fish With One Sleeve (2021) review
“Tokaibayashi Tsuyoshi delivers an important narrative that reveals how a societal system, which struggles with the newly-posed riddle of gender, problematizes the integration of the transgender subject in its fabric.”
Nanami: The Inferno of First Love (1968) review
“Hani’s narrative is not only be the best film of Susumu Hani, but also one of the best films of the sixties.”
Intimate Stranger (2022) review
“A splendid narrative that dares to explore how problematic mothers can be for their children.”
No Call No Life (2021) review
”While not perfect by any means, Igashi still delivers an enjoyable romance narrative.”
Let Me Hear It Barefoot (2021) review [IFFR 2022]
“A great narrative that elegantly and gently exploits non-verbal communication to deliver a touching tale of subjective struggle.”
Ayako Tachibana Wants To Go Viral (2020) review
“Amane does not only blend horror and eroticism fluidly together, but does so to deliver a satisfying critique of how social media eventually becomes a tool for male subjects to chase their phallic fantasy.”
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