Kasho Iizuka delivers a heartfelt demand to the spectator to go beyond the mere societal and ideological question of gender and consider the right of the subject to carve out his own singular space of ego-contentment.
Tag: Takashi Yamanaka
The Harbor lights (2025) review [Japannual 2025]
The beauty of Harbor Lights lies in its ability to invite the spectator to think through the dynamic of inter-generational trauma – the dimension of loss – and the destabilizing effect of (structural) discrimination long after the credits have faded.
Short Movie Time: TOMA #2 (2023) [OAFF 2023]
A touching narrative that explores the difficulty for the subject to give the Othering effect of dementia on a family member a place
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.
Any Crybabies Around? (2020) review [22nd Nippon Connection]
“A great drama that sketches out the destructive effect of the gap between one’s signifiers and one’s acts on others and shows the spectator that what the marital ‘motherly’ other truly demands is not simply obedience but love.”
The Island of Cats (2019) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
“Probably this year’s best cat narrative.”
Organ (2018) review
“A narrative that, when all is said and done, fails to realize its potential to move the spectator. “
The Chrysanthemum and The Guillotine (2018) review
“Zeze movingly reveals that the ground for true revolution should be love and its goal the realization of that place where a woman can realize her agency as subject.”