Strange Circus (2005)

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Avg Rating: 4.4 / 5. Voted: 166

No one cared thus far. Do you?


AKA: Kimyô na sâkasu
Directed by: Sion Sono
Starring: Masumi Miyazaki (Sayuri), Rie Kuwana (12-year-old Mitsuko), Hiroshi Oguchi (Gozo), Mai Takahashi (teenage Mitsuko), Issei Ishida (Yuji)
Country: Japan; Effed Up Asian Cinema
Language: Japanese (Eng Subs); Effed Up Japanese Films
Runtime: 01:48:14
Genres: Surreal, Domestic Abuse, Teen-Childhood, Family, Old-Young Relationships, Mental Illness, Incest, Gruesome, Self-Harm, Scars, Captivity, Transsexual

Plot – Spoilers:
12-year-old Mitsuko has a vivid imagination and projects the shit she’s going through at home onto the very visual and lonely make-believe world she often slips into.

Dad is a sex fiend who sticks Mitsuko into a cello case and forces her to watch him fucking Mom. Mitsuko deals with this by believing she is turning into Mom, which makes what’s happening to her ok. Meanwhile, Mom is having her own version of make-believe fueled by jealousy and the sheer insanity of what’s going on at home.

Then the Japanese craziness that many of us love, takes over.

Can you be inside your own dream while being someone else?

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True Patriot
True Patriot
November 12, 2024 4:26 am

The way childhood sexual abuse and the accompanying psychological trauma manifest in the lead actress is really well done in this movie. The plot jumps around quite a bit, but it does keep you questioning just wtf is going to happen next.

Loved it 9/10

fred fat
fred fat
August 22, 2024 11:56 am

found this a bit strange

Jooyeonator
Jooyeonator
July 21, 2024 9:10 am

one of my fave movies lol its so good 😪❤

Coburn
Coburn
July 16, 2024 4:41 pm

For those of you who like their movies to make sense, sit this one out. If you enjoy surrealist, bizarre brilliance and don’t need to take everything literally, this is fucking brilliant!

Sean
Sean
July 7, 2024 7:32 am

I really like this movie it’s really weird dark side sexual she dad sick man have sex his own daughter that not good but I still like this movie I love theme music 🎶 really beautiful

Betty
Betty
July 3, 2024 6:45 pm

very very very very cool movie ?? good way of showing sexual assult its not sexy or creepy its painfull and real

breakpoint
breakpoint
December 16, 2023 8:58 pm

This movie is terrible, but I believe that the father of the little raped girl is God.

Bzz
Bzz
December 10, 2023 8:30 pm

Excellent film, had me on edge all the time, 10/10

Multi-pan-aways
Multi-pan-aways
February 19, 2023 9:53 am

Pretentious slop throughout. I am with BMJ watch the first bit up to the cello case bonking then skip to about 1h20m and watch the end. Nothing in the middle makes any real sense anyway.

FALSEHOOD
FALSEHOOD
January 21, 2023 7:39 pm

yuji just like me fr

too
too
January 5, 2023 6:05 am

Once again, the Japanese prove that they rule this site. what a beautiful movie

Dino Rider
Dino Rider
November 10, 2022 9:13 pm

Japanese movies are for perverts

大崎梓美
大崎梓美
October 24, 2022 5:32 am

The first time I saw this movie I was 11 yo (2005) and I quickly became addicted of mental movies. In fact, everybody were asking : “Azumi, why a girl of your age, do not watch animashon or play with others of your age ?”. Seriously, I have tried and tried again for one year half but, something turned wrong with me… So later (13-14 yo, college), I developped an obsessive attraction on many other styles : surreal, abuse, teen, school, relationship, mental, psychologic, incest, gruesome, transsexual, transgender, experimental, BDSM. I do not say I do not like other movie (or thing) styles but I prefer these primary contents. In Japan, each movies (or things) are based on something and/or have a message behind them ; to find those messages, we just have to re-watch thoses movies (or asking questions) for hours and hours. If I may add one more thing : I am now 26 yo, still loving theses movies ; I am very artistic, emotional, sensual, erotic, I like to write and read obscure stories. Also, I was born differently from others, I am female intersex (xxy-47). Since my 17 yo, I always wanted to play in a movie (like this one), but the question (was), which director would want of an intersex (?) Sono ? Pang brothers ? For the common good, I mention that I am not a trans, not a cisgender woman and not a guy either, in fact, I am not gendered and still… Read more »

cobson
cobson
September 21, 2022 12:37 am

gemmy

FALSEHOOD
FALSEHOOD
August 18, 2022 1:42 pm

yuji my fave

michael morbius
michael morbius
August 18, 2022 1:45 am

walter

Ceafall
Ceafall
January 31, 2022 12:35 am

WTF. I absolutely love it! 10/10

Edgar Salas Picado
Edgar Salas Picado
January 17, 2022 11:24 am

Exelente, muchas gracias

Ben Miller
Ben Miller
January 11, 2022 11:32 pm

If you watch it to the end, you’ll realize it’s not only one of the best effed up movies, but easily one of the best movies. But if you don’t watch it to the end, you’ll end up thinking what a crap.

u_irritating
u_irritating
January 9, 2022 3:20 pm

Superior selection admin !
EUM viewers know that
they themselves
are the object of
self-conscious awareness .

OJ not Simpson
OJ not Simpson
January 8, 2022 6:20 am

When you look at the Sion Sono’s picture in IMDB, easily can say that this is his movie. Unfortunately geniuses like him are dying breed and instead market is flooded with mediocare talentless crowd pleasing directors.

Amr
Amr
January 7, 2022 9:33 am

Oh my god!!! Of all the effed up movies I’ve seen this is the freakiest on.

Ben Miller
Ben Miller
January 6, 2022 11:13 pm

That woman’s acting is exactly that of Alice from the Batwoman TV show on Amazon Prime. Same facial expressions, same manierisms, even the walk is similar …

Tyler Something
Tyler Something
January 5, 2022 12:03 am

Quality. On par with Oldboy.

ditto
ditto
January 4, 2022 10:12 pm

Hello admin my good friend .
The changing narrative voice from
1st person to 3rd person
spun my perception so bad
I felt my mind was aglow
with whirling, transient
nodes of thought
careening thru a cosmic
vapor of invention .

? oh no ¿
? oh no ¿
January 3, 2022 10:15 pm

Hey admin !
The circus scenes and accordian music
push reality into malaise.
In honor of our Japanese friend Sion Sono
(wrote, directed and did the music)
I offer
bandcamp
Tokoyo No Kuni (Michael Mayer Remix)

key
key
January 3, 2022 4:15 am

Fucking genius movie. That’s why I love Sion Sono!

Nash Montana
Nash Montana
January 3, 2022 3:59 am

So Japs have this whole trans thing going into. But it looks more I teresting.

bearzombi
bearzombi
January 2, 2022 9:59 am

every time I see this film it gets more and more amazing.thank you eum

MoeSyzlack
MoeSyzlack
January 1, 2022 8:46 pm

Wow! That was pretty great. Very stylish, too.

kvothe
kvothe
January 1, 2022 9:19 am

I really liked this one, had some strange twists and turns, but all in all I think it was a very good movie. The soundtrack was wonderful, and the imagery was a little aggressive but still well done in my opinion.

tonyelmono
tonyelmono
January 1, 2022 5:41 am

It seems like the goal of the folks that made this movie is to loose people. In that they succeeded, which I am grateful for. Otherwise just a bunch of over the top imagery.

deathstripper#8028
deathstripper#8028
January 1, 2022 1:28 am

probably one of my fav effed up movies!

Badmoviejoe
Badmoviejoe
January 1, 2022 12:47 am

First 30 minutes and last 30 minutes were dope. Too bad the 9 hours in the middle sucked but are needed to understand the beginning and end.