Hokage

One of the latest from Shin'ya Tsukamoto, one of my favourite Japanese directors. This was one of the reasons I got a region-free player and I was not disappointed. Shadow of Fire is a dark drama about a prostitute and a waif trying to get by after Japan was defeated in WWII. Elements of their 'family' dynamics are very interesting in the first half, giving a bittersweet tone. It's paced well though and there are surprises to be had. Wasn't expecting the kid to get yeeted through a window, and then get up, smash a bottle on the guy's head, and pull a 9mm on him. The kid is a badass. The film touches on themes around postwar rebuilding, like overcoming mental shock and trauma, finding justice for war crimes, learning the value of hard work and living an honest life, and the stigma of sex work and sexually transmitted diseases. Story gets a bit strange in the second half when it switches from the story of the prostitute and the kid to a long sequence with the kid and some weird guy trying to do crimes, but where it ends up is brilliant. Great performances, particularly from lead actress Shuri and young Ouga Tsukao, wonderfully filmed, very accomplished and a great watch!

A quintessential antiwar film crafted by Shin'ya Tsukamoto, featuring stunning cinematography and a gripping narrative that looms heavily over the audience. This film evokes a sense of war-induced horror that lingers even after the battles have ceased. The central figure connecting all the characters is a young boy, portrayed brilliantly by Tsukao Oga, who becomes an orphan due to firebombing. He navigates a world filled with adults who have succumbed to various forms of madness in the wake of conflict, where the black market overshadows community support amid scarce resources. The orphan transforms into a commodity within a dual narrative structure-part intense chamber drama, part road film. For a young widow (Shuri), who resorts to selling her body for survival, he serves as a substitute for her lost child, while a traumatized veteran (Kono Hiroki), who joins their makeshift family in a devastated tavern, finds solace in teaching the boy. In the latter part of the film, Tsukao's character discovers a loaded handgun, turning him into a pawn for a revenge-seeking demobilized soldier (Moriyama Mirai), who enlists him as an unwitting accomplice in a plot to assassinate a superior officer responsible for war crimes.

The film is heavy, unfiltered, and presents the realities of war and its aftermath with unyielding intensity.

Piercing calls of Japanese hawks, nightmares of the fire bombings, dark alleys filled with the sick and nearly dead, and desperate people struggling to survive in the rubble, ruins of cities, and aftermath of the world war. Cruelty and addiction come back to bite you if such are your practices. The resourceful and clever survive. Just a little bit of kindness means the world to someone. Live your best life.

Natural light and movement flood the beautiful frames in Shinya Tsukamoto's trilogy focusing on a few individuals living in the shadow and fear of war. Tsukamoto answered questions following the North American premier of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Just looking into his eyes close by I could see he was thoughtful and imaginative. The form of the film combines with the themes in striking, heartfelt ways. It is a meditation on beauty, darkness, and living.