Most of the films I watched were Japanese and since I have been reading some Ryu Murakami books lately, I can't help but admire how imaginative artists are in Japan.
Other than Ekusute that I reviewed last week, my favorite film was easily Nightmare Detective, the new thriller by Shinya Tsukamoto.
"Nightmare Detective" is one of his darkest, most psychedelic films and is a true masterpiece. One of his two main characters is a young suicidal man, who we soon discover has the ability to enter people's thoughts and dreams. As awesome as that might sound, it really hasn't done our hero much good. Every nightmare he enters depresses him even more and every thought he reads makes him lose faith in the human race.
At the same time, a beautiful detective with problems of her own and her team investigate two cases where the victims appeared to have committed suicide after talking to a man known only as 0 (zero). Soon, the police is forced to ask for the help of the reluctant to help nightmare detective.
Tsukamoto with this film has managed to break the boundaries between dream and reality, presenting us a side of Tokyo that is as hellish as the nightmares our detective is asked to enter. I have to admit that lately I have been disappointed by some of the director's efforts, but "Nightmare detective" is fabulous and its poetic beauty stems from its depiction of our darkest fears.
I had the chance after the festival to talk to one of the people who organized it and he told me that the film that had the best chance of winning was Memories of Matsuko, a heartbreaking musical about a woman who began her life with so many dreams to end up dying alone abandoned by friends and family. The film is really powerful and you couldn't help but feel for Matsuko, played brilliantly by Miki Nakatani who won the Japanese Academy's Best Actress Award last year.
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