Noise
Director's Note
It has been seven or eight years since I shot this film. This film is inspired by the indiscriminate killings in Akihabara that took place in 2008. Why did such an incident have to happen? What could we do to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future? To look for answers to those questions, I made this film. -- This is my first feature film. Looking at it now, there are many parts that I cannot help but see my inexperience, but the passion for making the film I want to make has not changed since then. It is a film that I felt absolutely compelled to make. It is a film that I had to make. I hope you will watch and enjoy it.
Matsumoto, the staff, and the actors, in an attempt to find an answer on the riddle of what drives a subject to go on a killing spree, have succeeded in creating a moving narrative that questions Japanese society as such and the effects this society has on the social fabric that under normal circumstances would give a subject a safe place to speak from. This questioning – attentive to the complexity of its subject matter, framed with thoughtful cinematography and brought to life by deeply nuanced performances, will long linger in the spectator’s mind.
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Noise is a true calling card. It proves Matsumoto has a place in the Japanese drama scene, where he can deliver something most other directors simply cannot. ... As for Noise, expect a somewhat gritty but heartfelt and compassionate look at an underexposed part of Japanese youth culture, appropriately stylized and building up to a memorable finale. Getting to the film will be problematic, as international distribution has failed Matsumoto so far, but if you're given the chance and you have a penchant for this type of film, don't miss the opportunity.
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