US-based distribution Japanese film streamer SAKKA is set to distribute Yusaku Matsumoto’s debut film Noise later this week, March 24th.
Originally released in Japan in 2019, this is an ensemble drama about lost souls who gravitate around Tokyo’s Akihabara district. Urban alienation, sexual and workplace exploitation, and fractious family ties form the basis of much of the drama. It won high praise from film critics around the world, including the 25th Raindance Film Festival which is where I reviewed it for V-Cinema (I’ll republish my review here).
On top of streaming the film, SAKKA’s release will be accompanied by exclusive bonus content such as a newly edited behind-the-scenes featurette and the director’s scene commentary.
Here are the details on the film itself:
Noise
ノイズ 「Noizu」
Release Date: March 01st, 2019
Running Time: 124 mins
Director: Yusaku Matsumoto
Writer: Yusaku Matsumoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Kokoro Shinozaki, Urana Anjo, Kohsuke Suzuki, Kentaro Kishi,
Synopsis: Set in Akihabara eight years after an indiscriminate killing spree in 2008, we follow a collection of characters including an underground idol whose mother was killed in the incident, a high school girl who runs away from home to escape a bad relationship with her father, and a young delivery boy who is on the edge of violence because he is constantly betrayed by his mother.
The film will be available on March 24th on SAKKA worldwide excluding Japan, Benelux, France, and selected French-speaking territories.
This film was the debut of director Yusaku Matsumoto who made this at the age of 23. The notes on this film from Sakka state:
When he [Matsumoto] was in high school, the infamous Akihabara Massacre took place where a 25-year-old guy drove into the crowd then went on to stab a dozen random people. Around the same time, Matsumoto lost his childhood friend to suicide. Though these two incidents were completely unrelated, he felt that they somehow had a shared relevance, and started thinking about the fundamental resemblance of what drives people to suicide and to homicide.
After making this film and establishing his name, Matsumoto has gone on to other projects. In 2022, he released the short Bagmati River and I interviewed him about it. He went on to bigger things with the drama It’s All My Fault (2022), starring Haruto Shiratori and Joe Odagiri, and just a couple of weeks ago he released his latest feature Winny, which stars Masahiro Higashide (The Sound of Grass) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi (Cold Fish). Matsumoto’s regular collaborator across these projects is Kentaro Kishi (The Sower), an actor, cinematographer, and screenwriter.
With this streaming release, SAKKA offer potential viewers the chance to see the origins of a rising star in Japanese cinema. Following the release of Noise, SAKKA will have another special release from Yusaku Matsumoto.
Keep checking here and the SAKKA website and social media feeds to find out more!