Complexe

Cast

Hitokazu Ishizaki, Mamoru Kato, Miyuki Oka, Tamiko Tachikawa.

Synopsis

A 16mm work by the young Obayashi, who dropped out of university to plunge headfirst into underground filmmaking. Much of the film is made using stop-motion animation — people bound down empty streets, slide down staircases, play with a ball, tickle each other's heels, speed up and freeze, and leap from one space to another, as the story drifts ever further into dreamlike imagery. Here, as in Émotion, we can already glimpse what would become Obayashi's signature style: his ability to turn any ordinary day into a spectacle brimming with absurdist humor.

About the Director

Nobuhiko Obayashi (January 9, 1938, Onomichi, Japan — April 10, 2020, Tokyo) was a classic figure of Japanese cinema and one of the pioneers who blurred the line between experimental and mainstream film. He began making 8mm films as a child and continued the practice throughout his life; in 1964 he co-founded a Tokyo underground/independent film circle. After fifteen years in advertising, he made his feature directorial debut with the surreal horror-comedy "House" ("Hausu," 1977), which became a cult classic. Other key works include the "Onomichi trilogy" and "Sada" (1998, FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival). He died of lung cancer in 2020, having completed his final film, "Labyrinth of Cinema" (2019), after his diagnosis.

Festivals and Awards

• Screening (retrospective "Nobuhiko Obayashi films," curated by Alina Roslykova) — O-FEST