Hospitalité

The absurd comedy by Fukada Kōji, set in the traditional downtown of contemporary Tokyo, makes it clear that hospitality does not always follow the host's free will. One day, an unknown fellow enters the family house of an ordinary printmaker, Mr. Kobayashi, and announces that he will start living and working there. The announcement is made with such assertivity that nobody is able to oppose it. As time goes on, one understands that this is only the very beginning of the Kobayashi family trial. The interweaving of the absurd storyline with psychological convincingness captivates the viewer with hypnotic as well as disturbing effect. All characters contours remain hazy and the finale is almost Beckett-like one. (Eiga-sai)