Recently in western influence Category

KAOJIKARA
[Strength of Faces]

Genre: Metaphorical Exploration into Cultural Alienation

review in one breath

A young japanese woman's decision to live abroad takes a terrifying turn for the worse when she wakes up within a world filled with hostile people whose faces are transformed beyond recognition. Issues of cultural alienation and the simultaneous loss and preservation of identity are explored in this short international film. This is an small independent, almost underground production which nevertheless carries a very clear and effective visual message. You can see this film (legally!) in its entirety online, and I encourage you to do so.

Tekkonkinkreet
[Tekkon Kinkreet]

Genre: Yakuza-infused Orphan Youth Angst

review in one breath

In the last remaining vestige of an otherwise over-modernized metropolis, two orphaned children have learned to live both freely and violently amongst rival gang intrusion, yakuza activity, and the good-natured help from some similarly-minded, decade-weary citizens. This tale, seen through their own eyes, is wholly about the survival and destruction of these two orphaned youths, not only in terms of their physical safety but also their mental landscape. Childhood dreams and hopes struggle headlong with the reality of urban decay, vicious crime, and the crippling sense of loss.

Ghost Train [Otoshimono]

Genre: Mass Transit Horror
Director: Takeshi Ken Furusawa (2006)

review in one breath

On any given day, the number of items turned into the Japan Railway's Lost and Found division is staggering. In most cases, such items are discovered and turned in by honest individuals who soon thereafter forget wholly about the incident. But in a few documented cases in a particularly remote mountainous region, those finding lost items soon go missing themselves.