Kotoko   SP-2012 

Tsukamoto has to answer for almost unbearable films such as Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and Tokyo Fist. Not exactly free of violence, to put it mildly. This film is no less unbearable, but here the violence is psychological. Or rather psychiatric. Rather unsuitable for young mothers.

Kotoko is a confused single mother who sees terrifying people and situations everywhere. The only way she can control her fears is by singing. Because she is afraid she will hurt her baby during psychotic nightmares, she cuts herself to prove she is still experiencing reality. In one of her delusory moments, she stands on the roof with her helpless child in her arms. What if she lets go? It isn’t long before she is forced to give up her child. During her contact with a writer, Kotoko’s crises increasingly lead to violent scenes, leaving us wondering whether they are real or part of her gruesome nightmares.
This psychological horror drives you mad and with themes such as alienation and loss of control, fits perfectly in the oeuvre of the Japanese cult director Tsukamoto (Tetsuo). Although this consciously chaotically filmed drama is not suitable for the faint-hearted, Kotoko - with the powerful Japanese singer-songwriter Cocco in the title role - is not only terrifiying but heartrendingly tragic.

Programmer Note by Gertjan Zuilhof:

The almost unbearable image of a psychotic young woman. Well before the end of the film it feels classic. It can only really be compared with truly classic films. Films such as Polanski’s Repulsion or Realm of the Senses by Oshima. A rare occurrence in contemporary cinema.
The film centres on a single, extraordinary personality. Actress would be taking it too far. Cocco, the Japanese singer-songwriter, is omnipresent in the film. Singing and everything. Filmmaker Tsukamoto also has a role, but even he serves his capricious, hysterical central figure.
Cocco/Kotoko is the insane woman. In that sense, the film is a psychological horror film and the horror in it is basically much worse than that of a genre production. The mental state of madness is played by Cocco in extremely physical fashion and you are convinced she’s experiencing it. More than well played, it is well done. Very well done.