Page 82 - Nightmare Japan Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema

Cultural Transformation 69

Furthermore, this sequence builds upon its predecessor in its appeal to an
almost hyper-kinetic presentation that requires the film’s viewer to
become more acutely aware of not only what they can see, but, perhaps
more importantly, what is withheld from easy view or, quite possibly,
hidden in full sight.
The film’s climactic sequence at Lunatic Theater also capitalises
upon the apportioning of light and shadow/darkness, albeit in a manner
that, given the scene’s setting on the stage of an empty movie house,
structures the inevitable conflict between Ryuzaki and Kitami as a
deliberately ‘performative’ event (en)acted to call attention to the
philosophical concepts informing their dialogue. Transpiring before an
intentionally sparse background in the form of a large white movie screen
and edited so that the viewer’s perspective alternates between long, full
and medium shots, the sequence combines an overtly affected, stage-like
remove with the intimacy of classical Hollywood-style continuity editing.
As a result, Sato disallows spectators the comfort of a stable viewing
position. The empty movie screen further heightens the spectator’s
awareness of Muscle as an aesthetically- and technologically-coded
material object, amplifying the degree to which one must actively engage
with Sato’s counter-cinematic text. Additionally, accentuated by the
prominent use of spotlights both to divide action within the frame (a
practice most noticeable in long shots), and to emphasise specific verbal
and physical interchanges (usually during full and medium shots), the
sequence takes on a persistently disruptive, over-determined theatricality.
Hence, Sato’s manipulation of lighting effects maximises the immediate
dramatic impact of some scenes while, paradoxically, rupturing the
verisimilitude of others. Rarely does Sato’s lighting result in the creation
of an exclusively ‘realistic’ mise-en-scène. It is within these less
naturalistic moments that Sato’s radical approach to cinema in general,
and genre filmmaking in particular, becomes most apparent. A gesture
immediately reminiscent of the works of avant-garde filmmakers like
Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage and ‘new wave’ directors like Jean-Luc
Godard and Oshima Nagisa, this cinematic variation upon the Brechtian
alienation effect is intensified by other modes of mechanical distortion.
These practices include: the insertion of severely canted camera angles