Violence, Bloody Violence: "The World of Kanako"

Last year at Beyond Fest, the rapidly steam building genre festival at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, a film called The World of Kanako was screened.  At the time I had tried to watch it, I had drank just one too many beers and the rapid cutting of the opening sequences gave me just enough motion sickness feeling that I had to walk out and curse my stupidity for drinking that last beer.  So imagine my lack of surprise that the film still hasn't received US distribution.  I then turned to my usual alternative methods of finding the film.  Lo and behold, there is a Hong Kong DVD release with English Subtitles!  So let's get to it shall we?

Kanako is a story about a mentally unhinged, violent, ex-cop Akikazu Fujishima (veteran actor Koji Yakusho) who is asked by his estranged wife to find their daughter, Kanako, who has gone missing 5 days ago.  The story unfolds in a time jumping fashion where we slowly get closer and closer to the truth of Kanako's world; a world where innocence is lost and violence, secrets, and lies are the common core.

This film is, to put it simply, intense.  From the beginning with it's fast paced editing and it's chronological jumping we know that we're about to dive into a perversely dark world and the main question immediately becomes, who is the worst monster?  In that sense, the movie is incredibly mean spirited, with most of the main cast of characters being overly cruel and at times incredibly sadistic.  But there's something arresting about this cruel world and its inhabitants.

In an almost voyeuristic fashion the audience is pulled into the story and it's hard to look away, no matter how disturbing the scene may be.  In this way, the film is an almost candid look at the nature of violence in a society that tends to hide behind the veil of politeness.  The brashly violent Akikazu, in that way, is the perfect antidote for the otherwise passively scheming group of people he encounters.

The film features some very slick direction, camera work, and editing, but it is definitely not for the feint of heart.  It is unrelenting in it's violence, which is portrayed in almost every gamete, from physical to mental.  Characters are beaten savagely, murdered, raped, you name it, the film has pretty much got it.  In that way it's almost a testament to the violence and corruption that occurs in every level of society, from the police force, the Yakuza, to the school yard and behind the closed doors of one's home.  The film's original title is Kawaki which literally means thirst.  Given the style of the film, this is an apt title, as each character seems to go through the story driven by an unquenchable thirst, be it for answers, for love, or for retribution.  Worth a watch, but it might not land many repeat viewings for most.