Bullet Ballet

Goda is an advertising director. He comes home to learn that his girlfriend has shot herself, and he cannot work out where the gun came from. Handguns are nearly impossible to obtain in Japan; he starts collecting parts and building his own. Meanwhile he clashes in the street with a gang of young people, one of whom begins to recognise him. The subject is not grief but grief fastening onto an object. Goda does not ask why his girlfriend died; he tries to understand the gun itself and spends all his energy there. Once the weapon becomes obtainable, there is nothing left to do. The form is hard black and white, handheld, fast-cut. Tokyo's nights are shot shaky, grainy and moving almost past legibility; the director's known style is here in its rawest state. Shinya Tsukamoto directs and takes the lead. Made after the Tetsuo films, this one builds the same bodily obsession through a firearm rather than metal. It was produced with a small crew and little money. Kirina Mano and Tatsuya Nakamura are in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like Japanese independent cinema and formally aggressive films. Who it is not for: anyone who wants a steady image; the camera barely stops and it makes some viewers unwell.