International cinema has unfortunately always been something that many Western audience members prejudicially ignore. Amongst the countries outside of America, Japan is a country that has produced arguably the greatest talent of filmmakers there is.
Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Yasujiro Ozu, Masaki Kobayashi. Their legacies have changed the foundations of what cinema is now. They have redefined genres and influenced many new Japanese filmmakers in their wake. Thanks to them, the Japanese film industry is continuing to thrive. One name, however, still goes under the radar.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa may not be a name familiar to many, but his status as one of Japan’s best is undeniable. He found his roots subverting and reinvigorating J-Horror in the late 1990’s and 2000’s. ‘Cure’ and ‘Pulse’ stand amongst some of Japan’s finest horror films to date, but make them stand out? When a filmmaker like Korean director Bong Joon Ho has one of your films in his top 10 all-time, you know you have to be doing something right.
Kurosawa’s film history
Cure’s macabre atmosphere is built through a bleak visual style, lingering images, and a downright disturbing premise. Martin Scorsese didn’t call it his “most terrifying movie” for nothing.
‘Pulse’ follows suit with arguably an even more terrifying entry into Kurosawa’s filmography. At the beginning of the millennium, at the start of the digital age, ‘Pulse’ stands as one of the saddest internet horrors to this day. The gruesome murders of ‘Cure’ are swapped for an overarching form of escape from the sadness and isolation of the 21st century. It’s horror built through still, dark figures, empty corners, and faces behind a screen. A film so ahead of its time that it is even more relevant now than it was then. Kurosawa’s understanding of societal problems on a level not just reflected in Japan, but the whole world is unmatched. It’s one thing to present them to an audience at face value, but it’s a whole different level of filmmaking paranoia to convey our doom in such a hauntingly depressing way.
A return to the forefront
In 2024 he has come back with a bang. Three feature-length films premiered at various festivals across the world. The first was ‘Chime’. A horror film with his unique eye for fear written all over it. A man troubled by a noise that drives him, and others around him, to extreme lengths. Kurosawa’s ability to build tension through small sound cues and a wondering camera is unmatched. One of horror’s biggest standouts this year. Then he joined the somewhat strange list of directors who have remade their own films. This was in the form of ‘Serpent’s Path’. But 23 years on from ‘Pulse’, Kurosawa has returned to his internet-obsessed early 2000’s self. His third feature that dropped this was ‘Cloud’. A satire in a way that only Kiyoshi Kurosawa would think to make one.
The genius of ‘Cloud’
‘Cloud’ follows an internet reseller Ryosuke Yoshii, who goes by the handle ‘Ratel’. What starts out in typical Kurosawa fashion, slowly morphs into atypical territory for the famed director. We begin with Yoshii scamming people by buying items in very cheap bulk. Tension begins to mount as he builds his online presence and momentary dark moments appear around his home. Behind-the-head shots and small sound cues, build on this early feeling of dread, very typical for his style of filmmaking. Hidden faces in the streets below become closer and closer to our eyes, as ‘Cloud’ takes its big satirical swing. As his petty crime count builds, so do his haters. A band of men bent on their vengeance and his demise. What begins as a Kurosawa thriller shifts gear into a ridiculous, gun-slinging breakdown of physical versus non-physical violence.
Yoshii, a man who has no problem with financially ruining many lives through a computer screen, can’t stomach the reality of doing the same in the flesh. Kurosawa’s exposé of reclusive internet culture is his coming to terms with the impact and revelations of ‘Pulse’. One film is the early doomsday warning of how the World Wide Web and the digital age will be man’s downfall. The other is an updated view of the now and how ‘Pulse’ has fallen so in line with reality. A plethora of senseless characters and obsession with false idols, levels ‘Cloud’ as his more grounded approach to our digital landscape. Its overblown chaos enlightened by its satirical roots, plunging Kiyoshi into new territory for him as a writer because of the way he chooses to approach his commentary.
Kurosawa’s ever-evolving commentary
As aspects of the world tear itself apart, he is there ready to mock, expose and fantasise about the obscene possibilities of such circumstances. His ever-evolving style of messaging matches the ridiculousness of several aspects of our society. Kurosawa’s ability to showcase these in a satirical, tense, or even horrific manner, is the sign of a director in touch with many of society’s problems, but in tandem with his genius level of filmmaking.
Eastern cinema is alive and thriving like never before. Film festivals and Western audiences are bringing the old and new greats back into the mainstream spotlight for all to gaze at. Even with the lack of distribution that many overseas filmmakers struggle with, festivals allow anybody, like myself to see films like ‘Cloud’ on the big screen, without the need for such distribution.
The importance of an international voice, like Kiyoshi, is vital to maintaining the power that cinema holds. A voice of art in the form of cultural and societal explorations, providing a peek into the lives of others that we don’t have the chance to see first-hand. However, it is not just the telling that powers such feelings, it is the show. The capacity to tell a story through one-of-a-kind images. The balance of stretching reality to its absurdist capabilities. Filmmaking isn’t about being real, it is about being individual. That is the power that so many foreign filmmakers possess. ‘Cloud’ is a testament to a director at one with his ability to mock us for our foolishness, by simultaneously pushing the boundaries of human actions. Sublime.
