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Details
This special limited edition spot gloss slipcover is limited to 2,000 units and is only available here at VinegarSyndrome.com!
Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America. Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!
Ai (a superbly laconic Tomona Hirota) haunts the streets of Osaka dressed as a mascot. After going home with a stranger, she wakes up to find footage of their intimate encounter uploaded to a porn site. As all systems of recourse and remedy fail her, her sense of dislocation and alienation intensifies and Ai resorts to a strange solution.
Following the rap-inflected drama YAMATO (CALIFORNIA) and the globe-trotting TOURISM, Daisuke Miyazaki unveils another potent subversion of the so-called monolith of Japanese culture. VIDEPHOBIA unfolds as paranoid techno-thriller about identity, set on the backstreets of an industrial and multicultural Osaka captured here in beautiful, stark black-and-white. Concerns with obsessive image-making and issues of surveillance and consent in the digital age are embodied in the plight of a young woman from the city’s Koreatown; in an eerie film about the self – watching us as much as we watch it.
Paired here with the newly commissioned, companion short I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR, starring Tomona Hirota and Sumira Ashina.
directed by: Daisuke Miyazaki starring: Tomona Hirota, Sumire Ashina, Shugo Oshinari, Sahel Rosa, Aki Morita 2020 / 89 min / 1.85:1 / Japanese Stereo
Additional info:
Region Free Blu-ray
High Definition Presentation
Video Introduction by Director Daisuke Miyazaki
Newly Commissioned Short Film, “i’ll Be Your Mirror” (2022, 9mins)
Videophobia MV by Baku Feat. Jin Dogg, Nunchaku (Tatsuro Mukai, Kumi), Tomy Wealth
Booklet Feat. An Interview With the Director by justine Smith and Behind-the-scenes Photographs
Japanese Theatrical Trailer
Optional English / Japanese / Chinese Subtitles
1 Transparent Sticker
New Cover Art
English SDH subtitles
Overall rating: 4.452381 / 5 from 42 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
Videophobia is a limited edition spot gloss slipcover, featuring a paranoid techno-thriller about identity set in Osaka. The film, directed by Daisuke Miyazaki, is praised for its unique take on Japanese culture and its exploration of surveillance and consent in the digital age. The release includes a newly commissioned short film, video introduction by the director, and optional English/Japanese/Chinese subtitles.
"Great release, with some nice extras and shipping was fast too." — Lennard B.
"Excellent release and packaging." — James R.
"Interesting release, good collection of features." — Hai Z.
Reviews
Another banger from Kani
"Great movie with some neat writing and a sticker!! Yay!!"
— Ben L. (5/5)
Japanese Rarity
"With atmosphere to spare, Videophobia is an underseen thriller that has finally got a great US release. It's kind of crazy that this film sort of disappeared after the festival circuit. Anyway, it is a film about our current hellscape in many ways that other films wouldn't dare approach. Got to say without spoilers that the ending is well worth it."
— Reeves M. (5/5)
amazing
"I love all of your dvds and slipcases i was at a horror con this past weekend and nearly spent a thousand dollars lol i love you guys sm keep up the amazing work!"
— Alec M. (5/5)
Nightmare of modernity.
"Well written, slow burning, but intense, modern nightmare."
— Oleh S. (5/5)
Videophobia
"This is a weird one"
— Jason S. (5/5)
Miyazaki
"Interesting. Nice artwork"
— Matt L. (4/5)
A chilling, claustrophobic vision of digital-age dread
"One of my favorite things about buying from VS is taking a complete blind buy - and they never fail to impress. This one is definitely worth the chance."
— Tyler B. (5/5)
Videophobia
""Videophobia" is a chilling and atmospheric Japanese psychological thriller that explores the intense paranoia and identity crisis of a woman whose intimate video is leaked online, leaving her to grapple with a world that seems to be constantly watching."
— Pierre L. (5/5)
Surpassed My Expectations
"it's branded as a paranoid thriller and that's a very apt description, but its far more poetic and abstract than I expected, and that's a very good thing. I love movies that leave me with more questions than answers, as many tend to fall apart while trying to explain themselves. this is one that'll really stick with me."
— Jack B. (5/5)
Spooky Slow Burn
"There isn't a lot of horror or scares in this movie, just the horror of the internet. Thr atmosphere creates this tense and cold look towards this woman's plight as her life gets ruined more and more every second. You're just waiting for any release of her torment, and you might just get that near the end. Want an indie darling to watch? Go ahead and get Videophobia."
— Tres L. (4/5)
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