Death Trance

Death Trance (2005)
Japan
Director: Shimomura Yuji
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi (who is the stunt coordinator himself)
Music: Dir En Grey, awesome industrial techno and choral instrumentals

He fights with his sheathed sword for most of the movie and still kicks ass.
He's got Captain Jack dreads, and drunken walking/fighting style
The real but not quite real space, exquisitely Japanese.
A mix of Kaidan and Samurai Deeper Kyo.

He is tied to the young girl
he's always hungry
she laughs when he fights
and he rushes to her when she cries, far away in the forest
she is connected with the goddess of destruction.
I think she's a complex for his innocence (she represents all of that energy in him) and he's a complex for her ability for destruction (he represents all of that energy in her). But I don't know. It's Japanese, and my psyche carries a lot of Western elements, so it's harder for me to get a bead on. What is it with Japanese lore and making the goddess of destruction female (and not in the Kali-changer-of-cycle sense, but in the oni eat-you-for-lunch kind of way)? What is it with Japanese stories and the guy warrior with a young girl on his shoulder or in tow? The land of kawaii and Amaterasu, the land that ejected the baby sun god Hiruko....well, whatever it is, I love it. I love that misty line that makes reality a dream and a dream reality.


The main character's dream life is deep and primeval, which made this movie extra special for me.
We get a glimpse of his true nature--he's an unawakened dark angel, an f'n akuma in the flesh. Who better to put the goddess of destruction back in her box than the Destroyer himself? This picture pinged and opened my dream core so fast, like 0 to 200 in a millisecond, do not pass go kind of feeling. It's the feeling of recognition.
There is another character in this film, a woman who reminds me of Trinity--the woman who is an amazing fighter, the woman who knows, and the woman who cares about what happens to the world. She's even got the smirk. Haha.
I was going to get up and get some ice cream, but this movie was so riveting in the right places (in that misty space between reality and dream) that I found myself watching the end credits roll before I got up again.