Issue:
November 2021
Join the Film Committee…
Join us on Tuesday, November 16 at 5:30 pm for a sneak preview of Joint, a remarkably atmospheric, submersive directorial debut about the increasingly borderless operations of today’s yakuza, from phone fraud to venture capitalism. At once informative and terrifying, it reinvigorates the genre through a combination of impressionistic noir, European arthouse and documentary authenticity, with elegant camerawork from Shintaro Teramoto, committed performances from a coterie of should-be stars, and playful nods to classic jitsuroku eiga. After serving two years in prison, Takeshi (Ikken Yamamoto) is determined to avoid a life of crime, and he soon slips comfortably into that liminal space between gangster and businessman. With illegally acquired personal data, he invests in an IT company and puts it to legitimate use. But his past catches up with him when his former clan is trapped in an all-out gang war. Director Oudai Kojima will be on hand for the Q&A session with star Yamamoto and executive producer-actor Kim Changbak. (Joint, Japan, 2021, 114 minutes, in Japanese/English with Japanese subtitles).
Karen Severns, Chair, Film Committee