A lack of privacy is commonplace in the digital age, a fact that Daisuke Miyazaki seems unsettled by. His fourth feature Videophobia is the kind of film that is born from a deep-seated fear of the world humans have created for themselves. The film was recently released on Blu-ray by Kani Films Limited in association with Vinegar Syndrome and OCN Distribution, marking the first of Miyazaki’s features to be released on the format.
Ai (Tomona Hirota) is a young woman living in Osaka, Japan, doing her best to make ends meet by balancing acting classes with a job as a bunny mascot. She drifts through the backstreets of the city, hoping to be a part of something bigger. After a one-night sexual encounter with a mysterious man, Ai stumbles upon a video of the act online. She is suddenly faced with an entirely undesired type of publicity that sends her down an eerie spiral of paranoia. What follows is a techno-thriller that unsettles audiences by depicting the ramifications of the excess of content, and the absence of consent, that permeates the lives of millions.
The frantic editing and high energy of most DIY punk thrillers is deliberately excluded from Miyazaki’s film; he is more concerned with depicting his world as a lived-in space not far from reality. Hirota’s performance is one of very understated power. All of Ai’s reactions are measured and ponderous, even when her world appears to be crumbling. The fact that Ai eventually begins feeling like a stranger in her own world is another conscious choice by Miyazaki, who has made clear his intentions of having Videophobia be a commentary on the racial tensions between Japanese-Koreans and Japanese people within his country.
In the linear notes included with the release, he describes Osaka as a “shadow of Tokyo,” a place that “has a lot of taboos that the Japanese government and society try to hide.” For example, Korean-Japanese residents in Japan are required to have Korean passports even though their lifestyles are inherently Japanese, which can lead to discrimination against and malice towards Korean-Japanese residents. This film is Miyazaki’s attempt to uncover taboos such as this.
The Blu-ray extras include a newly commissioned short film I’ll Be Your Mirror starring some returning Videophobia cast, a music video companion to an original song written for the film, a booklet with behind-the-scenes photos and an in-depth interview with Miyazaki, and a video introduction to the film from Miyazaki in which he describes filmmaking as “writing a letter to someone… who you will never meet, around the world.” This message is further emphasized by Kani, the home video label behind Videophobia’s release.
Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made tripod, Kani is a new label dedicated to “leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America.” (https://www.kani-releasing.com) This, and any of Kani’s releases, would make for great educational programming for any media librarians looking to expand their international film collections.