Film review: The World of Kanako is an indictment of modern society
You really have to wonder what Tetsuya Nakashima thinks of children today. The director's Confessions (2010) featured one of the greatest opening 20 minutes seen in cinema, stripping bare a modern youth which has descended into nihilism and self-obsession with its tale of a teacher out for revenge after the murder of her little girl.
Starring: Koji Yakusho,Nana Komatsu,Hiroya Shimizu
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Category: III (Japanese)
You really have to wonder what Tetsuya Nakashima thinks of children today. The director's Confessions (2010) featured one of the greatest opening 20 minutes seen in cinema, stripping bare a modern youth which has descended into nihilism and self-obsession with its tale of a teacher out for revenge after the murder of her little girl.
What allowed that magnificent film to creep under the skin was the way the words, actions, and even the thought processes of the young characters were recognised and acknowledged as believable by the audience. Pause for thought, for sure.
With The World of Kanako, Nakashima returns to what superficially seems to be familiar territory. He explores how one seemingly random and tragic act affects those left behind — but this time he has honed his knives until they are razor sharp. Now it's not just the future of the children that we fear for, it's society itself.
As in Confessions, the character that binds this tale together is a parent who grieves for a lost child. Akikazu Fujishima (Koji Yakusho) is a deadbeat former police detective whose family has fallen apart. His pride and joy — his seemingly perfect daughter Kanako (Nana Komatsu) — vanishes one day without a trace.
