Kageroza (1981)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Kyoka Izumi (novel)
Yôzô Tanaka (writer)

Release Date:

21 August 1981 (Japan)

Genre:

Fantasy | Romance | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Based On Novel

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Yusaku Matsuda	...	Shungo Matsuzaki
Michiyo Ookusu	...	Shinako
Mariko Kaga	...	Mio
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Tamawaki
Yoshio Harada	...	Wada
Eriko Kusuda	...	Ine
Ryutaro Otomo	...	Master
Emiko Azuma	...	Old woman
Hideko Okiyama	...	Woman in a bright colour kimono
Akaji Maro	...	Homeless
Isao Tamagawa	...	Clerk
Asao Sano	...	Head of a hospital
Hiroko Ito	...	Maid
Bsaku Satoh	...	Station employee

Also Known As:

Heat Shimmer Theater
Heat-Haze Theatre

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Cinema Placet

A disjointed ride through a feverish dream

I saw this film as a part of a Suzuki retrospective in Amsterdam, my first meeting with Suzuki, not knowing that it is all but representative for his more famous work from 50s-60s.

The plot of the film is difficult to describe because it is told almost without a cohesive narrative and totally non-linear and disjointed. I've never seen a film that resembles a feverish dream so closely. Roughly the story is about man confronted by one man (a rich business-man) and two women (a Japanese Geisha and a European, who dresses like a Japanese women).

Besides the 'narrative' distorted uniqueness, which allows the characters to jump from one location to the next or pop up (even within the same shot), the other interesting aspects of the film are the locations, the visuals and inter-textual connections. Just to name a few: We see the protagonist on a range of different locations in the Japan of the 1920s, both in the city as in the countrysides. Also the European woman with her piercing blue eyes and blonde hair (only when the moon shines) is a fascinating image. Suzuki's use of distorted Japanese paintings as a backdrop and a No-play performed by children in the final part of the film send shivers down my spine.

Although the film drags a bit in the middle, I left the theater with a positive, if slightly confused feeling. Maybe I liked it because it lacks any form of explicit explanation, just like a dream subjects you to an illogical and irrational 'story' that somehow makes sense. It is a film that forces you to leave every sense of (western) storytelling at the door. Or maybe it was just because it is fascinating to see a film in which every next shot is the complete unknown.