Gohatto (Taboo)

Oshima Nagisa’s 1999 film Gohatto is about desire and suspicion within the ranks of the Shinsengumi during the bakumatsu period. The story follows a love triangle between pale-skinned beauty Kano Sozaburo (Matsuda Ryuhei) and Tashiro Hyozo (Asano Tadanobu) but is told mostly through the perspective of Captain Hijikata, played by Kitano Takeshi. Set in 1865, during the twilight of the Shinsengumi and Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu), the film is a nostalgic love letter to the last days of feudal Japan, an examination of the destructive effects of desire within the brotherhood of the Shinsengumi, and an allegorical criticism of the efforts of modern Japanese society to repress the desires of the individual for the sake of the majority. It was Oshima’s first film in 13 years and revolved around the highly controversial practice of homosexuality (shūdō: the way of youths) among the samurai class.

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Japanese,

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Soundless Wind Chime

Soundless Wind Chime is the story of Ricky who leaves Hong Kong for Switzerland to find the lost soul and the past of his dead lover, Pascal. He faces a struggle of memories, reality and illusion on his dreamlike journey. When he visits a beautiful thrift store, Rickey meets Ueli, a man that looks identical to Pascal, but has a totally different personality. This is a very complex film that I would probably have to watch twice to get the full scope of it. Director Hung has apparently been working on the film for five years, and it shows. Striving for a densely poetic texture, the film is so overloaded with visual bliss. There’s a lot going on beneath Soundless Wind Chime’s stylish, deliberately arty surface.

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Japanese,

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Amphetamine

Amphetamine follows gay lovers but it turns out that their addiction to love proves more fatal than the drugs they use to explore the boundaries of their friendship. Amphetamine is the second installment in a supposedly semi-autobiographical trilogy, which is to be completed with Scud’s upcoming film Life of an Artist. The connection and growth of Kafka and Daniel’s relationship is quite heartbreaking to witness. The lead character Kafka spends most of the time being high, so there is little room for emotional development between Kafka and Daniel. Amphetamine can be described as bittersweet, emotional, and sincere. The plot revolves around drug abuse, tragic love, and gays and lesbians.

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Japanese,

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