Shozin Fukui

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Shozin Fukui (福居ショウジン, Fukui Shōjin^?) is a Japanese movie director and screenwriter. His work consists of only four films, Gerorisuto, Caterpillar, 964 Pinocchio (known in the UK as Screams of Blasphemy^{[citation needed]} ) and Rubber's Lover. Fukui is best known for 964 Pinocchio, and although this is his most famous movie, it stayed underground and never became that popular. His films are often described as cyberpunk.

Fukui uses a lot of recurring themes in his films, notably throwing up (it's worth noting here that Fukui has stated that Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 film Possession is his favourite film). He uses a very distinct way of shooting, namely making use of color tints to create a certain feeling in his movies. For instance, in 964 Pinocchio, Shozin uses green tints to create an emotion of claustrophobia. Also, his somewhat deceptive and chilling way of filming, using both calm shots as well as hyperkinetic fast ones, may surprise and/or disturb the viewer.

His first film was the 10 minute short Gerorisuto (1987/8, only starring one person, Chiemi Endō). This was followed by the 32 minute Caterpillar in 1990. Gerorisuto, was seemingly a protest against the overly polite, 'blend-in' Japanese society, as it mostly contained features of a woman screaming against Japanese people, puking, and not blending in with society but resisting against the superficiality. These shorts were formerly very rare, but are now available on the recently released Unearthed Film DVDs of 964 Pinocchio and Rubber's Lover as extras.

After these shorts came Shozin's first, and most popular feature-length film, 964 Pinocchio. The story is quite strange, although it serves up a unique viewing experience.

Pinocchio 964, a lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, memory-wiped, homeless girl. Meanwhile, the corporate entity who manufactured and sold him plots to kill him because of his malfunction.

A premise far too obscure and plainly odd for some viewers, the movie did not receive much attention. However, the film did win the Special Award at the Japanese Professional Movie Awards (which was given in 1992). The movie contains a lot of typical Fukui elements — puking, hyperkinetic style, chaos and metaphorical images. By many the movie is hailed as an underground classic. The film is definitely a cyberpunk movie, having strange, futuristic images combined with a hyped-up, rough soundtrack.

Fukui's (to date) last movie is Rubber's Lover, a movie completely shot in black and white. The 1996 production is said to be a prequel to 964 Pinocchio.

The plot concerns a group of scientists working to unleash the psychic potential of human beings. For some reason this involves injecting them repeatedly with ether, dispensed by a huge cannon-like syringe, and then strapping a device to their heads similar to a VR helmet. The company they work for decides the project is a loss and sends a secretary to tell them the news of the project's shutdown. The poor scientists react rather badly to the news, and in a desperate attempt to make a final breakthrough, subject one of their own ranks to the drug and device. He responds well so they put him in an isolating rubber suit that deprives him of all sensory input but that which is governed by the experiment. The results are successful and much mayhem ensues.

As with Shozin's other work, it is definitely a trip through raw emotion and protest projected on film. Fukui has a very distinctive style and it shows.

Fukui himself once said: "Psychic Power is Realized When Mental Anguish Exceeds Physical Pain", which is a very good indication of his work. He also once said that people call his movies stupid, and he agrees, because in fact, he is stupid (this is a quote).

Shozin Fukui is often compared to Shinya Tsukamoto, specifically his cult-classics Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer, due to the cyberpunk elements present in both directors' work. His movies are definitely not for the squeamish, but looking past the violence, one can see pure emotion and ends up with a very interesting and great oeuvre of work.