INU-OH

  • 98'
  • Japan
  • 2021

A cultural revolution is afoot in 14th century Japan. Tomona, a blind priest and biwa player, and Inu-Oh, a descendant of respected Noh performers forced to hide his physical appearance from the world, join hands to break away from the customs of their guilds and write the songs they want. In this, they find inspiration in the fallen soldiers of a decisive 11th century battle whose events continue to plague the ruling shogunate. As the two musicians enrapture the population with their trailblazing performances, the old guard moves to clamp them down.

In his latest feature INU-OH, veteran animator Yuasa Masaaki pushes his tendency to commingle realism and fantasy to its limits, reimagining the two dissident artists as modern-day rockstars producing elaborate light-and-sound shows in front of a crazed, shrieking audience in period costume. The irreverence of this anachronistic mirrors the musicians’ disregard for tradition, deepening their distance from their predecessors. Equally characteristic is Yuasa’s casual bending of genres, with his film drawing liberally from revenge sagas, historical epics and concert movies.

INU-OH does not disguise its political commentary, and its tale of ruling powers seeking to silence voices deviating from the official canon is all too contemporary. Above all, Yuasa’s film is a resplendent song of triumph to outsiders, the eccentrics, rebels and losers of history.

 

Srikanth Srinivasan

Director
Yuasa Masaaki
Premiere
Dutch Premiere
Country of production
Japan
Year
2021
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
98'
Medium
DCP
Language
Japanese
Producers
Fumie Takeuchi, Choi Eunyoung
Production Companies
Asmik Ace, Science SARU
Sales
Asmik Ace
Screenplay
Nogi Akiko
Cinematography
Sekiya Yoshihiro
Editor
Hirose Kiyoshi
Sound Design
Kimura Eriko
Music
Otomo Yoshihide
Cast
Avu-chan, Moriyama Mirai, Tsuda Kenjiro, Emoto Tasuku, Matsushige Yutaka
Local Distributor
Periscoop Film
Director
Yuasa Masaaki
Premiere
Dutch Premiere
Country of production
Japan
Year
2021
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
98'
Medium
DCP
Language
Japanese
Producers
Fumie Takeuchi, Choi Eunyoung
Production Companies
Asmik Ace, Science SARU
Sales
Asmik Ace
Screenplay
Nogi Akiko
Cinematography
Sekiya Yoshihiro
Editor
Hirose Kiyoshi
Sound Design
Kimura Eriko
Music
Otomo Yoshihide
Cast
Avu-chan, Moriyama Mirai, Tsuda Kenjiro, Emoto Tasuku, Matsushige Yutaka
Local Distributor
Periscoop Film

Programme IFFR 2023

Focus: Yuasa Masaaki

When, at IFFR 2018, Yuasa Masaaki's Night Is Short, Walk On Girl screened, audiences and critics alike went wild with delight and wonder. Now, apropos his latest work, INU-OH, IFFR is proud to present the internationally first extensive retrospective of a modern master who, since his first efforts in the 90s as a storyboard artist and episode director, developed into one of world cinema's most inventive and constantly surprising animation auteurs. 

Recurring topics of transformation, self-expression, and love are exemplary of Yuasa's oeuvre – complemented with an animation style that characteristically favours  movement and emotions that  feel both authentic and real. In series like The Tatami Galaxy (2010) or Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (2020), as well as films like Lu Over the Wall (2017) or Ride Your Wave (2019), Yuasa's filmmaking combines the surreal with the cute, the socially conscious with flights of fancy, the visually staggeringly experimental with the narratively classical. IFFR is proud to celebrate a creative mind that, like few others, knows how to fuse the popular with the avant-garde.

Read more about this programme