Strange Circus

Strange Circus is from the director of Suicide Club. Both films are controversial and very uninhibited with their theme.
Very bizarre, uninhibited, disturbingly wierd to its very core, this film doesn't leave much for the imagination, it pushes the envelope in the world of the macabre and the unusual. Actually, bizarre is an understatement. Decapitated limbs, incestuous lovemaking, and blood-soaked walls squeeze deep within the story's convoluted and utterly unnerving nature. It's the type of film that you want to look away from if it wasn't so intriguing.

A film that pushes the envelope this far has to be artistically captivating in its cinematography and immersive in execution to offset its exploitative premise and bypass its dark shadowy premise. The film delivers; with such lurid visual grandeur, dark twisted philosophy and a very strong and aggressive narrative style from director Sion Sono, it manages to rise above that label, but still maintain a feeling of gritty disgust which looms in its endless pit of the unusual. Buckle your seat belts and check your airbags, because all the odd and disturbing twists and turns within Strange Circus could disturb the viewer in a way that simulates whiplash.

As much as I would like to give you details of the screenplay, I'd rather have the ones who happen to rent/buy this title be taken on a ride. Suffice it to say, the film revolves around the decline of child named Mitsuko, and her mother Sayuri/Taeko the novelist. While this is a very grotesque tale of a love triangle, the good cinematography can preoccupy the viewer of this odd tale.

Masumi Miyazaki gives a great performance. She is quite gutsy to pull this off. She manages to capture the aura of Sayuri's/Taeko's eroticism as well as her twisted presence. She is quite a sight. The actress must have been hand-picked for this role. Sexy, alluring but with a disturbing aura about her; Miyasaki rivals Aya Sugimoto when it comes to raw twisted sexuality.

Strange Circus is an experience very much alike when you experience motion sickness. Viewers will feel like being grabbed by the spine and shaken until you pass out. For some reason, I managed to sit through the entire film because it gets you curious on how it will end. It has that effect much like when you see a car wreck, you want to look away but for unknown some reason you can't and your eyes are stuck.