Kotoko

Shinya Tsukamoto directs this film about a woman with severe psychological disorders. It's evident early on that she has almost completely lost her mind because she engages in self-mutilation and hallucinates into seeing evil doppelgangers that do not exist. Tsukamoto has historically made films with somewhat bizarre yet fascinating characters and conflicts. Such is also the case here as he creates a very dangerous, uncomfortable environment for the protagonist's newborn child. The narrative becomes difficult to interpret at times, but this is well shot and oddly absorbing with a unique feel. There is some bloody violence and a few shocking scenes. This is a film that will be very divisive amongst viewers, but I found it even more impressive after a second viewing.

As harrowing as it is heartbreaking, Kotoko concerns a single mother struggling to raise her infant child due to her deteriorating mental illness, and delivers moments of pure terror by blurring the lines between reality & imagination throughout its runtime. A hallucinatory horror drama packed with violent episodes that erupt without warning, the film navigates motherhood, loneliness, nervous breakdowns, toxic relationship, self-harm & more with a confounding narrative that neither makes sense nor carries enough weight and leaves the viewers with more questions than answers in the end. Cocco's unhinged performance in the titular role does much of the heavy lifting here but the film as a whole requires more than one viewing to properly unearth its multitudes of layers & mysteries.

Tsukamoto's "Kotoko" is a disturbing, Heartbraking, and shocking masterpiece, with great images and cinematography.

This film describes the nervous breakdown of a single mother, who suffers from severe mental problems, such as paranoia, double vision, anxiety and deep depression.

Her mental state is shown very differently throughout the film. Her state gets better, when she sings or is near her son, otherwise she is paranoid, anxious, and self harming.

Throughout the whole film, her state gets all the way worse, represented in both shocking, and beautiful images.

Cocco's acting is phenomenal. As a viewer, you can really feel what she is going through. When she is singing in her soft and calm voice, you can really calm down for a while, otherwise you are in a state of constant discomfort.

The camera shows off her mental health in either a really shaky, or a really calm camera work.

The film has no soundtrack, but thats not necessary at all.

This film is not for sensitive persons, it shows shocking and disturbing images of self harming and paranoid behaviours. This film needs your whole attention, otherwise you dont get into it.

Story: 10/10 Acting: 10/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Camera: 10/10 (If you dont like shaky, found footage like movies, dont watch this)

Total score: 10.

Almost as difficult to write about, as to watch, this harrowing film is a nightmare from start to finish. Single mother, Kotoko is played by Cocco, who we understand co-wrote the film basing it on her own experiences. Some experiences they must have been, too, if this is to be believed. For some considerable stretch she is struggling inside and out the house carrying, awkwardly, her screaming child. The next phase seems to involve real or imagined violence upon this child. All the time the camera, our viewpoint, is skewed and uneven as the sound around deafens. And all the time the lead lady is self harming, in a big way. As if this were not enough the film's director and co-writer also appears and attempts a relationship with this ongoing nightmare, crazy lady. Uncompromising, as ever, this is quite different from Tsukamoto's other work but then I guess that remarkably they are all quite distinctive with just the one thing in common that makes them his own and makes them so difficult to watch. This is raw and desperate humanity desperately trying to maintain the slenderest grip on something the least bit tolerable in the face of rampant madness.

I find it sad that this provocative, challenging film has such a low rating. This is a film about a serious subject (mental illness) that is portrayed through intense visuals and expressionistic performance. The director positions you so that you feel like you are inside the characters head and its a very distressing place to be. There is strong violence and the film is very tragic but there are also moments of beauty such as when Cocco sings and dances. Yes, the camera work is very "shaky" buy the purpose is to create a realism and disorientation as experienced by the character. If the film had been shot formally it would have lost its impact. This is not a film for mainstream cinema fans. It is a challenging and artistic piece of work that deserves serious attention.