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After “Confessions Among Actresses”, director Kiju Yoshida returned to his political trilogy with “Coup d’Etat”, an account of the attempted overthrow of the Japanese government on February 26, 1936. Similar to the other entries of the trilogy”, “Eros + Massacre” and “Heroic Purgatory”, this final feature was also inspired by true events and a historical figure, in this case ultra-nationalist author Ikki Kita, but is quite a diversion, aesthetically and narratively, from the other parts of the trilogy. In an introduction filmed in 2008, the director explains how the event plays a decisive role when it comes to understanding the way Japan developed towards a more nationalist and ultimately militarist power, which sparked its involvement in World War II, but also paved the way for the protest movement of the 1960s, events he portrayed and referred to in the other features of the trilogy.

Coup D’Etat is screening at Tokyo International...

Every film creates a world, and every filmmaker a universe. Some prove uninhabitable. Given the rarity of Kiju Yoshida’s films, the grandeur with which Arrow Films is presenting them, and the way they were talked about – three films “united by their radical politics and an even more radical shooting style”; “bleak but dreamlike” – I dove into this set quite curious and excited. I found Yoshida’s universe to be one of the most tumultuous I’ve yet encountered. Even oblique films tend to carry with them a bit of poetry and emotional momentum. I think especially of films like Last Year at Marienbad, The Mirror, Goodbye to Language, or Flowers of Shanghai, all of which are so exciting and riveting despite my not initially knowing what they were really about at all.

At least two of the films in this three-film set gave me no such pleasures; Coup d...

★★★★☆ With Arrow Video's recent Blu-ray release of the Love + Anarchism trilogy - a trio of films comprised of Eros + Massacre (1969), Heroic Purgatory (1970) and Coup d'Etat (1973) - younger generations are reintroduced to the stunning works by Japanese New Wave director Kijû Yoshida. A body of work that is simultaneously provocative and restrained, thoroughly philosophical and political, these three films thoroughly radicalise viewers in it alluring artistry.

On the other side of my content filled posts for Sound on Sight, I manage a semi-popular Tumblr blog called Obscure and Offbeat Cinema. There is virtually no written content and the vast majority of what I present are screenshots taken from films that I’m watching or planning to watch. Though a popular film will sneak in now and then, the focus remains on films that are off the beaten path. With over 3000 images posted in 2012, I thought it would be interesting to single out my favourite shots seen for the first time this year and share them with you. This link is quite obviously unique to my own cinematic experience of 2012, as well as my own personal quirks and aesthetic obsessions, so you might not agree with all of the choices. I also warn, this list may not be Safe for Work and in the case of objectionable...