Wonderful Paradise

This special limited edition spot gloss slipcover is limited to 1,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.

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!

In this demented spin on the “unwanted guest” scenario from iconoclast Masashi Yamamoto, the debt-ridden Sasayas must move out of their suburban Tokyo house. In the midst of packing, the family’s rebellious daughter posts an open invitation online: “Let’s have a party!” Soon, guest after guest pours in: from estranged relatives, to jilted lovers; from drug dealers and yakuza to supernatural delights of the kaiju variety..._x000D_

With the unflinching logic of an ever-escalating matsuri, Yamamoto offers a demented spin on Teorema that pinballs until all notions of cinematic realism and common sense are well thrown out the window. Here, he casts his eye on the upper middle classes yet continues to build a version of his onscreen punk utopia (as begun in Robinson’s Garden, What’s Up Connection and the earlier, nihilistic Carnival in the Night): finding the fault lines in yet another set of zany characters that allow for the upending of Japanese propriety and decorum by way of an unexpected, joyful cinematic mayhem.

directed by: Masashi Yamamoto
starring: Kaho Minami, Seiko Ito, Soran Tamoto, Miyu Ogawa, Hyunri, Jun Murakami, Arata Furuta
2020 / 95 min / 1.85:1 / Japanese DTS-HD MA 7.1

Additional info:

• Region A Blu-ray
• High definition presentation
• Interview with director Masashi Yamamoto (12 mins, 2024)
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Booklet with behind-the-scene photographs and new writing by Ariel Esteban Cayer
• Optional English subtitles