Feature – Japan / UK Première

Showing @ Cineworld 11, Fri 22 Jun @ 20.40 & Sat 30 Jun @ 15.20

Koji Fukada / Japan / 2010 / 95 min

On the occasions when film has been adapted for the stage (and vice versa), something always appears to be lacking. There are of course exceptions, but as each art form is passed into different hands there is ultimately going to be artistic compromise. The UK première of Koji Fukada’s Hospitalité however displays how this film retains the intimacy often found in live theatre, as the loves and traumas of one family are dissected by unfamiliar eyes.

Fukada has created something which feels extremely unpolished, but in doing so has allowed for deeper analysis and understanding of Japanese family life – with the Kobayashi family suffering due to their mysterious guest Kagawa, who forces his way inside and pushes the boundaries of personal space. Yet as the film progresses, it builds on ambiguous insecurity as the narrative is only expressed from the eyes of the outsider. Fukada presents many questions throughout his film: is the intrusion liberating? Is it dangerous to trust even your work colleagues? And thus his film acts not only as an insight into Japanese life, but as an analysis of family behavioural patterns and socially acceptable codes of conduct.