Toshiaki Toyoda is one of the great under-recognized masters of international cinema. With his early films - Pornostar and Blue Spring - Toyoda captured the raw energy and anger of youth. With Nine Souls the raw angst was still present, as were the wildly stylish flourishes that marked his earlier offerings, but the anger was balanced with something more complex and mature. And with The Hanging Garden Toyoda delivered one of the most gripping portraits of family dysfunction caught on screen in recent years.
Legal issues nearly derailed Toyoda after The Hanging Garden, leading to a period where he chose to simply stay out of the public eye, but with his band Twin Tail and 2009 film The Blood Of Rebirth - a meditative fable - Toyoda returned to his artistic endeavours. And now he arrives at the Toronto International Film Festival with his seventh feature, Monster's Club.
Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai star Eita stars. Check the first three stills below.Having abandoned modern civilization, Ryoichi lives an isolated, self-sufficient life on a snow-covered mountain and sends mail bombs to the CEOs of corporations and TV networks. One day, he encounters a mysterious creature in the forest. That night, his older brother, who had committed suicide, appears before him at his cabin. The apparition takes Ryoichi beyond a door, where Ryoichi learns the truth about his family.