Two experimental works including a challenging piece from maverick director Ishii Sogo and early award-winning work from Tetsuo director Tsukamoto Shinya.
Screening in this programme:
The Isolation of 1/880000
DirIshii Sogo/1977/47mins
A sullen young man who failed university entrance exams and is studying for next year lives a solitary existence in a corner of Tokyo. He is unable to concentrate on his studies and spends his days wallowing in feelings of alienation, inferiority and lust, until one day his frustration suddenly explodes without warning. A gruesome, violent, controversial work that stops viewers cold with its shocking, hopeless ending, this is the maverick director’s starting point.
The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo
Dir Tsukamoto Shinya/1988/47min
A student who is bullied because of a utility pole growing out of his back travels 25 years into the future through a peculiar turn of events. There he must fight a gang of metal vampire thugs who try to control humankind. Tsukamoto won the Grand Prize in the Pia Film Festival for this work that makes excellent use of animation methods to create astoundingly speedy visual effects. The following year, his now-legendary cult film Tetsuo: The Iron Man would make his name widely known around the world.