Uzumaki

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Virtual Screening

Credits

Director

Higuchinsky

Writer

Takao Niita

Cast

Eriko Hatsune, Fhi Fan, Hinako Saeki, Shin Eun-kyung

Producer

Sumiji Miyake

Cinematographer

Gen Kobayashi

Japan 2000 90 mins OV Japanese

Genre Fantasy

Strange events are afoot in the small town of Kurozu – and schoolgirl Kirie seems to be caught in the maelstrom of it all. Her boyfriend’s father becomes obsessed with spirals. First, the patterns on a snail’s shell, then the movement of a washing machine or the whirlpool one makes with chopsticks when mixing fish cake into a soup. At school, a student starts dripping inordinate amounts of sweat – only attending class on damp, rainy days. Meanwhile, another classmate develops imposing curls. The sky darkens; spirals seem to be everywhere at once, exerting an irresistible fascination on all things.

Higuchinsky’s elusive adaptation of Junji Ito’s cult classic UZUMAKI (SPIRAL) returns to Fantasia after 20 years, screening in a brand new 4K restoration. Decadently stylized and as beguiling as ever – practically dripping with blue-grey grime and oozing slime – the film stands out for its cosmic horror stylings and the ways it comes closest to the haunted tape at the centre of RINGU. In other words, the film itself now appears to us as cursed – full of shifty details and disturbing artefacts – as it unfolds with an almost experimental slice-of-life logic. Higuchinsky brings the curse to life with a myriad of tactile superimpositions and moments where the celluloid practically shows its seams – all of which makes for one of the more peculiar films in the J-horror canon. – Ariel Esteban Cayer