HOT ASHES
KATACHI NO NAI HONE
Dir. KOJIMA Junji - Japan - 2018 - 103'
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First film from Japanese director KOJIMA Junji, ten years after his short film premiered a decade ago in Berlinale. HOT ASHES arrives in Berlin fresh from the cutting table.
Lead actress Seiko Ando gives a tour de force performance. Shot after shot, she imposes an impressive onscreen presence in this raw, restless drama done in a documentary style realistic mode. She just doesn't get a break, but never gives up either.
Her husband forges art for a living and beats her for trying to work outside the conjugal home. Her young son mimics her husband's behavior and her mother-in-law'ssanity slowly disintegrates as she treks to the cemetery everyday.
Unraveling like a grittier, bleaker and more intimate version of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" transplanted to contemporary Japan, HOT ASHES is a gnawing film that worms under the skin.
Lead actress Seiko Ando gives a tour de force performance. Shot after shot, she imposes an impressive onscreen presence in this raw, restless drama done in a documentary style realistic mode. She just doesn't get a break, but never gives up either.
Her husband forges art for a living and beats her for trying to work outside the conjugal home. Her young son mimics her husband's behavior and her mother-in-law'ssanity slowly disintegrates as she treks to the cemetery everyday.
Unraveling like a grittier, bleaker and more intimate version of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" transplanted to contemporary Japan, HOT ASHES is a gnawing film that worms under the skin.
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