[deadgrandma]

Films that you appreciate upon a later viewing are usually the best. I mention this because I just rewatched Strange Circus by Sono Sion. Out of the (many) Sono films I have seen, Strange Circus never really resounded with me or stuck in my memory.

Watching it last night left me shaken, I think I finally understood what he was going for with this film. Apart from the usual Sion aspects that have become his cliche- exteme sex/violence, abuse (usually domestic), subtle horror, over-long scenes, interesting music choice and getting his actors to do stuff that only a few daring actors would do in the west- this film has a truly successful and underlying tone of sadness that I did not pick upon on initial viewing. Perhaps its because I took the surface far too literally the first time round too- well, as much as possible anyway.

It further cements in my mind that he's probably the one director from Japan that I know I can rely upon to create a film thats tweaked for my interests, much more so than anyone else. I read many arguments on why he isn't great but in the end- the entertainment level and rewarding experience/desire I have to rewatch his films many many times (Lynch, Jodorowsky, Kubrick and Wes Anderson are the only other ones are capable of doing that for me on a regular basis) really speaks for itself.