安眠室

Halciondays,16November2000<br/>　　Author:whitepongo([email protected])fromtokyojapan<br/>　　HavinglivedinTokyoforalmosttwoyears,icanconfirmmysuspicionsthatSatoisoneofthemostJapanesedirectorsworkingtoday.Hisfilmscouldnotbemadeanywhereelsebyanyoneelse.Hisunwavering,logicaldissectionofacentraltheme(usuallysomethingtodowithpsychosisandobsession)spirallingtowardsanihilistic,doomed(andromantic)endingisinkeepingwithadarkstrainthat'sbeeninJapaneseculturesinceit'sinception.XenophobicfilmwatcherswhothinkthisisascarymirrorofmodernJapanesesocietyshouldhowever,nottakeitsoseriously.THEBEDROOMisaveryhardfilmtowriteabout.Ithasnoasides.Alltheusualcinematicbull****hasbeenlyposuckedawayleavingaeconomic,tightandintensestorythatgoesfromAtoBswiftlyandleavestheimprintofafilmbehindwithoutactuallydevelopingfully.Butitdoesn'tneedto.It'slikeasongthatneverrepeatsthatriffyoulikesomuchenoughtofullysatisfyyou,soyoulistenagain.And(ifhiswholebackcataloguewasavailableinEnglish)iwouldimmediatelyputonanotherSatomovieafterthis.Theyareasobsessiveandaddictiveashischaracters.Unredeeming,anti-socialandseriouslywell-made.Oneday,somefilm-makerwillpushforwardSatoasaninfluenceandmaybepeoplewilltakenotice.Butuntilthen,hissmallfanbasewillwatchthemindarkenedroomsindarkcitiestryingtoreplicateafeverdream.