Monday, June 29 6PM to 7:30PM
Walter Reade Theatre
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 165 W 65th St, New York, NY 10023
Yoshida’s first film towers above a long list of off-key Japanese comedies that gained popularity in the late ’00, combining the weird, the whimsical, the wry and the most warped sense of humor you can ever conceive, even by Japanese standards. Step-siblings are thrown together in death and debt, after their parents are killed in a freak road accident trying to save a black cat sitting in the middle of a road. The eldest daughter (Eriko Sato) is a failed twenty-something actress, arriving late to her own parents’ funeral, the brother (Masatoshi Nagase) has an abusive relationship with his cheery and much put-upon web-order bride (Hiromi Nagasaku), and the youngest sister (Aimi Satsukawa) is drawing a manga based on the family’s misfortunse. Suicide, seduction, prostitution, persecution, outrageous bitchiness collide with nonchalant abandon. Colorful and attractive cinematography belie a dark dramatic underbelly, and Yoshida achieves a brilliant balancing act between a nasty and mean-spirited story and impeccable comic timing.
For tickets and info visit: subwaycinema.com