Shigeaki Kubo reaffirms that he has the skill and talent to bring action-driven narratives to life in a satisfactorily way.
Category: Violence
A Girl named Ann (2024) review
One of most upsetting confrontations with the way the societal and familial Other can fail the subject.
Cloud (2024) review
Kurosawa delivers a biting critique of way capitalism and consumerism has transformed our subjectivity and the way we interact with others.
Teki Cometh (2024) review [Camera Japan Festival]
A vivid and mesmerising experience that does not only illustrates the subjective impact of increased isolation on giving meaning to one’s own life – on the stability of the frame of one’s ego.
Evil Does not Exist (2023) review
Ryusuke Hamaguchi offers a highly meditative exploration of the position of violence within the natural Real and the human symbolic, the realm of speech.
Red Peony Gambler: Gambler’s Obligation (1969)
What invites us to qualify Suzuki’s narrative as a classic is not simply his continuation of Yamashita’s visual adoration of Junko Fuji, but his effective transformation of the Ninkyo thread into an exploration of the transgressive nature of desire as such.
The Young Strangers (2024) review [Camera Japan Festival 2025]
Uchiyama delivers a masterpiece that does not merely grab the spectator by his throat, but confronts him with the fundamental importance of the signifier in a heartrending way.
The Invisible Half (2025) review [Japannual 2025]
Masaki Nishiyama’s message resounds clearly: embrace your Otherness, despite all the societal hammers seeking to hammer you, the nail that sticks out, down.
Baka’s identity (2025) review [Japannual 2025]
Koto Nagata offers the spectator a saddening but entertaining portrait of what the Japanese Other does not want anyone to see: the unsavoury marriage between crime and capitalism
The Man Who Failed To Die (2025) review [Camera Japan Festival]
Seiji Tanaka refuses to colour within the lines of comedy, creating an eclectic collage of different genre-elements that does not fail to satisfy the spectator.
The Killer Goldfish (2025) review [Camera Japan Festival]
An absurd brutal supernatural fantasy that has the potential to become a cult-favourite.
8 films to watch in preparation for Ghost of Yotei
In this short article, we want to introduce people, who are new to the Japanese cinema, to a few easily accessible films to prepare themselves for the game and immerse themselves in the themes that the game will explore.
Flames of a Flower (2025) review [OAFF 2025]
A compelling exploration of the divergent ways subjects deal with trauma and the Other that fails to respond adequately.
Short Movie Review: Chime (2024) review
With his horror-short. Kiyoshi Kurosawa proves that he still is a master of horror.
Red Peony Gambler (1968) review
A classic ninkyo narrative and a must-see for any cinephile.
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