Tsukamoto Heads Back For Another Nightmare Detective Right Away.

Confirmed initially in English by Jason Gray, supported and expanded upon by Don Brown at Ryuganji, it's now confirmed we're into a quicker-than-expected production for a Nightmare Detective 2 from Shin'ya Tsukamoto.

For those that have yet to see the first installment - the only subbed DVD currently lies in the hands of RaroVideo, Italy, and I have purchased that disc myself, but it's also made some screening appearances - I will agree with Don Brown and say it's clearly not as commerical as Hiruko the Goblin (a film within which dedicated fans will see his identity, but from which little evidence of his involvement seems obvious by comparison) but remains a film that is both easy to label commercial as well as something which seems to gently slide towards some incredibly unusual and very Tsukamoto in territory as the film progresses.

The first film is pretty bare, it's relatively simple in it's look and story to begin with. It's equal parts obviously mainstream as well as adding in spades of the mans take on existence under the surface, and that stuff bubbles to finish things off in much more sophisticated form. This is exactly what impressed me the most about it, that it's not so blatantly commercial, it's a subversive, smarter Tsukamoto getting under the skin of mainstream audiences who happen to pick it out. Some of those visuals are familiarly sparse if you've seen Marebito too, some of the production clearly brings to mind that film also, especially over something like Vital which was certainly a step sideways, and it's a film which goes from oddly disappointing to strangely satisfying over it's duration. If you're not familiar with the mans work I would suspect it would gradually slip towards something unexpectedly exciting or disappointingly odd. Worth seeing, so let's see when TWC manage to make it appear in the USA, and let's see if Brad Pitt dons a cape and growns his hair long and greasy for the title role... if his touted remake production features him.

As for the sequel, Ryuhei Matsuda returns, filming starts in July 2007. I would expect that it's as likely to be driven by Tsukamoto's multitasking as the first, which is almost embarrassingly dominated by his name when the credits begin to roll... no bad thing, though, is it? [Source : Jason Gray's BlogSpot].

More Information on Nightmare Detective 2 translated by Don Brown Over at Ryuganji.