Zigeunerweisen

Seijun Suzuki's 1980 film is his return after a long absence. Fired by the Nikkatsu studio in 1967, he was unable to make films for years. This is the first of three set in the Taishō period. It turns on the relationship between a university professor and his vagrant friend, ambiguous ties tangled with two women, and death appearing again and again, while the plot never resolves into clarity. A record of Sarasate playing carries the mystery at its centre: an indistinct voice audible on the recording becomes the characters' obsession. Suzuki refuses to separate the real from the ghostly. The film was shown in inflatable tents rather than cinemas, and that unusual distribution drew enormous attention; it was honoured at the Japanese Academy Awards. Who it's for: viewers who like experimental Japanese cinema and films where narrative dissolves. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a followable story; the film never intends one.