Nagisa Ōshima followed up his shocking and epochal In the Realm of the Senses with this, thus completing a diptych of films about overwhelming sexual ion that eventually becomes destructive and violent, both starring Tatsuya Fuji. But here Ōshima taps into the deep tradition of Japanese ghost stories, particularly the ones wherein a character is murdered and returns as a ghost to punish the people that wronged her (as in The Ghost of Yotsuya) or in this case him. And…

Sadgirlcore. A beautifully shot, slowly paced film about a beautiful sad young woman--lost, grieving, unmoored, trapped, existentially confused, and so, so disappointed. Let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground. And honestly I'm a sucker for them. It reminded me of some of my favorite sad girl movies: Kieslowski's Rouge, Bleu (lots of primary color mise-en-scène in this one too), and La double vie de Véronique. Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love.…

Ryan got a blank check and took a big swing. And he made a beautiful, delightful, exciting, sexy, and moving human period drama. Which also happens to be a love letter to Black musical traditions. Oh yeah, and an action horror film heavily indebted to From Dusk Til Dawn (with some Night of the Living Dead, The Shining, The Lost Boys, and Django Unchained vibes as well). And somehow it all works!

Watched at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland,…