Kotoko

This is quite an unknown film, in fact I know of no one who has actually even heard of this let alone seen it. Therefore, I'm braving new territory. I'm pleased to report that this is exceptional filmmaking. A young single mother suffers from a mental illness that enables her to see double, questioning what is reality and what is fantasy. Tsukamoto has achieved excellence with Kotoko. He is able to convey the solitude and disparity of a fractured mind with visceral filming techniques. The transition from slow camera movements to explosive shakiness (albeit over accentuating that movement slightly too much) highlights the violence that she suppresses and unfortunately succumbs to. There is self-harming. There are visions of horrific imagery that no parent (or anybody) would ever want to see. Yet, it's imperative that these are shown. The complexity of her illness makes her a liability, her eventual loneliness only worsens the situation and I believe it's important that the bloody violence conveys that raw emotion. You feel helpless watching her. Both the internal and external struggles of this rare psychological detriment are explicitly portrayed where all of your emotions are drained. This is a relentless drama, and I admire the personable perspective. A feature film debut for singer-songwriter Cocco who delivers an outstanding performance. There is a stunning one take scene of her belting out a melancholic song, and I was transfixed. She held my gaze, grabbing my eyes and refusing to let go. Just masterful. The loud piercing noises throughout increases the broken nightmarish reality that she lives. The story does lack some attention towards the psychological aspects of this illness, where certain scenes do feel slightly too ambiguous for its own good. Also, a vision involving her son towards the end was too violent. However Tsukamoto's heartbreaking drama remains grounded throughout and holds one of the best debut performances I've seen. It's not an easy watch, but do check this out and give it some adoration.

It's an uneasy film to watch it starts off quite shaky and gets worse as her sanity drops and the film gets very intense when it builds back up the shakiness is gone. Then everything seems pleasant and happy it has quite surreal elements and dream like scenes I wasn't a fan of the constant singing but its important to the character that she sings. There is some uneasy imagery during the breakdown sequences that will stay with you but the movie has a relieving conclusion not the happiest but the best possible outcome. The acting is top notch and you really feel for the character and her family. I didn't understand some things so I may need to re-watch not your average tsukamoto film but definitely a good drama about a devoted mother with a dissociative disorder.

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.

After seeing many of Shinya Tsukamoto's films, I always found many of them interesting yet they always seemed a bit much. This film to me took all of the good from his previous work and left all the negatives behind. This felt like a collaboration made in heaven Cocco and Shinya made a great pairing. I felt genuine emotion from this film. Even though at times it may be over the top it always finds its way back to being grounded. This is a confusing film but in a good way. I don't throw 10/10 around Willy nilly but this film deserves it.