The twelfth edition of Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival will be preceded on May 3rd with a pre-opening event centered around Japan. Two must-see films for all cinema lovers will be staged at Auditorium Santa Margherita at 4.00 pm, starting with Yukiko Mishima’s Shape of Red and Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s masterpiece A Snake of June, supplied by RaroVideo Channel with the collaboration of Nikkatsu Corporation.
Furthermore, on May 18th, at Casa del Cinema di Venezia, Mishima and Tsukamoto will meet again figuratively as both Mishima’s Dear Etranger and Tsukamoto’s Hiruko The Goblin will be projected. The latter is presented for the first time in Europe in a restored version.
SCREENING SCHEDULE:
SHAPE OF RED by Yukiko MISHIMA (Japan, 2020, 123′)
This troubled, sensual and meditative film is an adaptation of Shimamoto’s novel Rio Red (2014), interpreted from a female perspective. Toko (played by Indo Kaho) is leading a life that — according to her friends — seems “impeccable”, with a charming husband, a loving daughter and a beautiful house. However, Toko is struggling with an inner dissatisfaction that turns into a strong passion when she meets Kurata Akihiko (Tsumabuki Satoshi), her boyfriend from her college days. The two embark on a relationship that will almost destroy not only Toko’s marriage, but also her own identity. Toko had always thought of herself as being a good mother and a good housewife, but at this point nothing seems to make sense in her life. Through her relationship with Akihiko, she discovers how he treats her in a totally different way from her husband, Makoto (Mamiya Shotaro): he considers her as a woman in flesh and blood, with her own desires and ambitions, while her husband almost seems to want to keep her trapped inside the house. Akihito will invite Toko to work at his company where she will meet one of his colleagues, Odaka Atsushi (Emoto Tasuku) who will try to seduce her. Toko will also feel attracted to Atsushi and, in an attempt to juggle betrayal and lies, she will soon dicover that also Akihiko hides a secret.
A SNAKE OF JUNE by Shin’ya TSUKAMOTO (Japan, 2002, 77′)
Supplied by RaroVideo Channel with the collaboration of Nikkatsu Corporation
Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa from Cold Fish) and Shigehiko (novelist Yuji Kotari) are a strange couple, whose physical mismatch (she a lithe beauty, he an overweight, balding, obsessive-compulsive neurotic) is reflected in the complete lack of intimacy between them. They connect as human beings, but they live more like friends than as lovers and lead nearly independent lives. Both seem comfortable with this coexistence, but the desires that lurk beneath its surface are brought out with the introduction of a third element into the equation. When Rinko receives a package of candid photographs of herself masturbating and the sender (played by Tsukamoto himself) contacts her with the threat of exposing them to her husband, she submits herself to the anonymous voyeur’s sexual games. If she wishes to get hold of all the negatives and prints, Rinko is to comply with a set of assignments that place her constantly on the borderline between humiliation and pleasure – the voyeur knows exactly what Rinko’s personal erotic fantasies are and makes her act them out one by one. (thirdwindowfilms.com)
May 18th event at Casa del Cinema – SCREENING SCHEDULE:
DEAR ETRANGER by Yukiko MISHIMA (Japan, 2017, 127′)
Dear Etranger (2017), is a film based on the novel by Shigematsu Kiyoshi, and has been selected to take part in several film festivals around the world. The protagonist Makoto Tanaka, 40, has remarried and with his new wife he looks after his two daughters. When his wife becomes pregnant, he is forced to accept a demotion in his job, as he refuses to work extra hours to spend more time with his family. These events shake his life and influence the family dynamic.
HIRUKO THE GOBLIN by Shin’ya TSUKAMOTO (Japan, 1991, 89′)
Restored version – European Premiere
Following the success of his trailblazing independent cyberpunk debut, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Shinya Tsukamoto directed this wonderfully bizarre adaptation of Daijiro Morohoshi’s Yokai Hunter manga as his first studio project. Called to an idyllic countryside town, disgraced archaeologist Professor Hieda (pop idol Kenji Sawada) teams up with high schooler Masao (Masaki Kudou) when a series of disappearances—including those of Masao’s father (Naoto Takenaka) and classmate crush Reiko (Megumi Ueno)—take place. Together, the unlikely duo discover that the local high school sits atop an ancient burial mound that may very well be a subterranean gateway to hell. Offering a raucous mashup of genres—ranging from campy adventure to Lovecraftian body horror—Hiruko the Goblin delivers pulse-pounding thrills with over-the-top visuals including stop-motion animation and practical effects that recall the early works of Sam Raimi and John Carpenter. (thirdwindowfilms.com)
