Pulse

Kairo

A dystopian allegory (or perhaps a dark prophecy) about modern man’s relationship with technology and the stories patiently hiding in the back end of our every online transaction, until they take over every inch of our being, unfolds around a hair-raising discovery: spirits from another world are spreading like a virus through networks and computer monitors, haunting the users and transforming them into ghosts resembling ashy shadows. Commenting on the fledgling, in 2021, tradition of J-horror and responding to the pop obsessions of the genre with a fluid, almost transcendent imagery, one of the most important Japanese directors evokes humanity’s innermost fear of machines to produce his own ghostly poetics of existential hues.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Script: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Cinematography: Junichiro Hayashi

Editing: Jyunichi Kikuchi

Sound: Makio Ika

Music: Takeshi Haketa

Actors: Haruhiko Kato, Kumiko Asō , Koyuki Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Show Aikawa, Jun Fubuki, Shinji Takeda, Kōji Yakusho

Production: Kadokawa Pictures, Ntv Network, Hakuhodo Inc., Imagica Corp. Film

Producers: Shun Shimizu, Seiji Okuda, Takeshi Inoue, Atsuyuki Shimoda

Production Design: Tomoyuki Maruo

Executive producer: Yasuyoshi Tokuma

Format: Blue-ray

Color: Color

Production Country: Japan

Production Year: 2001

Duration: 118'

Contact: Kadokawa Pictures

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kiroshi Kurosawa was born in Kōbe in 1955. He directed his first short films in Super 8 when he was a sociology student. He started to direct commercial films in 1983. He directed many video films (or direct-to-video) before the presentation of Cure (1997) abroad earned him international recognition. He subsequently directed around thirty films, including Pulse (2001), Jellyfish (2002), Retribution (2006) and Tokyo Sonata (2008). In 2011, his television series Shokuzai was widely acclaimed. He currently teaches at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His film, Journey to the Shore won the Best Director Award in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. In 2020, he won the Silver Lion at Mostra de Venice with Wife of a Spy.