Strange Circus
奇妙なサーカス / KIMYÔ NA SÂKASU
2006, 108 min, Colour, 35mm, R21
Directed by: SONO Shion / 園 子温
Cast: MIYAZAKI Masumi, ISHIDA Issei, KUWANA Rie
Source: Sedic International

Strange Circus is for everyone who thought that Sono’s previous film Suicide Club was just too "normal." Strange Circus is a surreal shockfest that just gets more disturbing as it progresses down its increasingly hallucinatory path, and much of the audience is likely to be reeling, even before the amputations, imprisonment or secret transsexuality. Adolescent Mitsuko is forced to watch her parents’ lovemaking by her father who imprisons her in a cello case with a peephole. When Mitsuko’s mother apparently dies, her father forces the girl to be the victim of his desires, which drives her to attempt suicide with a leap from a height… yet all of this is apparently just the new novel being penned by reclusive, wheelchair-bound author Taeko. Or is it? Taeko is assigned a new assistant, effeminate admirer Yuji, and the two begin a sexual relationship in Taeko’s ornately designed estate. But we soon must question the real identities of both Taeko and Yuji. Strange Circus is an often shocking, always bizarre cinematic ride for the adventurous.

back to Japanese Film Festival main menu..