Shinya Tsukamoto's War Drama 'Hokage' Premieres at Venice Film Festival

Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto presented his film 'Hokage' (Shadow of Fire) in the Orizzonti section at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. The film explores the trauma of war through three main characters: a woman who lost her husband and son and turns to prostitution in a black-market economy, a former teacher now a mentally shattered soldier, and a feral street child. Set in a claustrophobic room, the narrative examines the impossibility of forming a family amid destruction. Tsukamoto uses visceral imagery—contorted bodies, grotesque masks, and bodily secretions—to convey psychosis and neurosis. The cinematography features warm tones of brown, yellow, and orange, evoking fire. Sound design eschews the industrial noise of Tsukamoto's earlier 'Tetsuo' for fragmented voices and animalistic sounds. The film questions whether survival or witnessing violence is the harshest lesson for the child. Critic Carlotta Petracci wrote the review for Artribune.