"Neo Sora is a Japanese film-maker who directed Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, a documentary about his father, the renowned composer. Now he has made his feature debut with this complex, beguiling and often brilliant movie, co-produced by Anthony Chen; it manages to be part futurist satire, part coming-of-age dramedy, part high school dystopia. It combines the spirit of John Hughes's The Breakfast Club with Lindsay Anderson's If. and there might even be a trace memory of Paul Schrader's Mishima, only without the seppuku."
"In a high school in Kobe in the future, students are oppressed by the reactionary xenophobia of their elders; periodic earthquake warnings, and actual earthquakes themselves, create a widespread air of suppressed panic which the authorities believe justifies a perpetual clampdown. The prime minister has taken to claiming that undesirable elements are taking advantage of the earthquakes to indulge in lawlessness."
"In the school, there is an almost unconcealed racist disdain for students who are not fully ethnic Japanese as well as those who have unorthodox or rebellious views. One morning, the principal (Shiro Sano) is infuriated to see that some prankster has turned his shiny new yellow car up on its end in the school grounds, like a Stonehenge monolith."
Neo Sora's feature debut is a complex, beguiling film that mixes futurist satire, coming-of-age dramedy and high-school dystopia. The film is co-produced by Anthony Chen and echoes influences such as The Breakfast Club, If. and Mishima. The setting is a future Kobe high school where reactionary xenophobia and repeated earthquake warnings create a climate of suppressed panic and authoritarian clampdown. Students face racist disdain and surveillance after a prank involving the principal's yellow car. A liberal teacher fosters a rebellious group of diverse students who navigate identity, oppression and youthful resilience under mounting societal tensions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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