Hisayasu Sato – Shisenjiyou no Aria aka The Bedroom (1992)
Hisayasu Sato’s THE BEDROOM is a bold, yet flawed film which manages to create an utter sense of depersonalization and loneliness, while still telling a great story. The visuals are great; blue and red light coat the bodies of the comatose girls of The Sleeping Room while giant TVs with constant static decorate the background. Sato’s spare use of music also helps to create tension in the film; the soundtrack features immense buildup that never actually climax, keeping the viewer aurally on edge. Despite the fact that the film may seem confusing at first, if the viewer is willing to actively watch the film and engage with the way Sato is telling his story, the viewer will be rewarded at the end.
imdb user white pongo writes :
Having lived in Tokyo for almost two years,i can confirm my suspicions that Sato is one of the most Japanese directors working today.His films could not be made anywhere else by anyone else.His unwavering,logical dissection of a central theme (usually something to do with psychosis and obsession) spiralling towards a nihilistic, doomed (and romantic) ending is in keeping with a dark strain that’s been in Japanese culture since it’s inception.Xenophobic film watchers who think this is a scary mirror of modern Japanese society should however,not take it so seriously.THE BEDROOM is a very hard film to write about.It has no asides.All the usual cinematic bull**** has been lyposucked away leaving a economic, tight and intense story that goes from A to B swiftly and leaves the imprint of a film behind without actually developing fully.But it doesn’t need to.It’s like a song that never repeats that riff you like so much enough to fully satisfy you,so you listen again.And (if his whole back catalogue was available in English) i would immediately put on another Sato movie after this.They are as obsessive and addictive as his characters.Unredeeming,anti-social and seriously well-made.One day,some film-maker will push forward Sato as an influence and maybe people will take notice.But until then,his small fan base will watch them in darkened rooms in dark cities trying to replicate a fever dream.
http://www.nitroflare.com/view/EB1A136AD23A568/the-bedroom.avi
Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:english (hardsubbed as on dvd)