Yusho-Renaissance (NR)

synopsis

Known in Japan by the epithet of "queer ambient film," Oki's work contemplates the flickers of emotion and desire aroused in the passing moment. In this incredible visual accomplishment, Oki takes his craft a step further by employing beautiful, dreamlike imagery and stream-of-consciousness editing to conduct a deep investigation of light, time, and image. With an exploration of film and video imagery as its aesthetic, Yusho-Renaissance engrosses viewers with mesmerizing visuals and sound while challenging them to question the fidelity of perception and media categorization. As a painter and his band of chic cohorts take a playful trip into the woods, a beautiful, short-haired woman identified as "Judas" follows. Her elliptical presence throughout the film corresponds with manipulations of light and image. She embodies the passage of time and causes collisions, convergences, and transformations between rural and city settings. As a muse and psychic, Judas tours the past of the beautiful Shikoku district and points the way to its future, which is unconstricted by classification and filled with fire, sunsets, and short-haired, handsome baseball players. Beautifully photographed, with an editing style resembling flashes of memory, Yusho-Renaissance eases the viewer into a hypnotic state while performing a recursive dance which transforms the edges of its projected image. Through layered film and video frames, the boundaries of the image itself become a formal element actively engaged in manipulating media. A conceptual experience which morphs with every screening, Yusho-Renaissance is a unique film event.