Bambi (heart) Bone

The feature debut by Shibutani Noriko deals with a subject that that may well be one of the most difficult and sensitive to fictionalise: incest and sexual abuse. Shibutani succeeds in portraying this dramatic and taboo theme without resorting to sensationalism. She manages to avoid the obvious pitfalls by looking through the eyes of children. The very nimble digital camera darts and jumps through their escapist games and energetic fantasies. On the threshold of their teens, from behind their masks made of plastic bags, they discover the outside world - alleyways, playgrounds and fallow fields. They live in Shisibonee, an outer suburb of Tokyo, where 11-year-old Tadao has to put up with the strange habits of his mother and, worse, the alarming needs of his father. His best and only friend is former classmate Aya, a girl who now goes to a different, less expensive, school and is often sent out onto the streets when her mother receives one of her many lovers. In their loneliness, the children find one another and fantasise about what and who they could be. But when Tadao's father sees the friendship blossom between the two of them, he becomes terribly jealous. (GT)