Poster online for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Tokyo Sonata”

Grady Hendrix has yet another scoop over at Kaiju Shakedown. This time it’s the poster and an image from Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest film “Tokyo Sonata”. Those hoping for another moody horror experience from one of today’s masters of moody horror experiences will be disappointed though. This time around Kurosawa is going for straight drama with the story of a Tokyo family that is harbouring any number of secrets; dad hides the fact that he’s lost his job while his son does his best to keep quiet about his musical ambitions. In some ways it sounds like the exact opposite to another recent Japanese family drama, 2005’s “The Hanging Garden” directed by Toshiaki Toyoda where an entire family vows not to keep any secrets from each other… but I’ve gone off on a tangent.

Where was I? Yes, straight drama. Frankly I’m glad to see Kurosawa going in this direction. My favorite moments in his filmography have always been when he veers away from the scares and delivers dark, somewhat surreal, and of course moody takes on contemporary Japan (ie: “Bright Future”, “Charisma”, and “Doppelganger”).

Japanese audiences will be able to get a look at “Tokyo Sonata” when it opens in theatres later this year… about the same time that it will hit the festival circuit (fingers crossed). Until then follow this link to Kaiju Shakedown for Grady’s full story and the teaser image: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/kaijushakedown/KUROSAWA-COMEBACK