Films of the Week: Locarno Sex Romp Edition! – Film Comment

Jonathan Romney on 
August 12, 2016:

“Of late, Western audiences may have formed the impression that Japanese
cinema has become somewhat tame. The most prominent titles on the recent
U.S. and U.K. release schedule, and in the Cannes official selection,
have been accessible, unthreatening works from Hirokazu Kore-eda, these
days making pensive but benign family dramas such as Our Little Sister and this year’s After the Storm and Naomi Kawase, whose Sweet Bean
was every bit as soft-centered as the pancakes that were its theme.
Only Sion Sono’s rambling trash-aesthetic sagas have continued to
provide at least some cult visibility for the extreme.“