Drama

Wilderness

あゝ、荒野

Directed by: Yoshiyuki Kishi
2017 / 304 minutes / Strictly 18+

“Life is boring if you don’t fight your destiny.”

This special screening of the full film will include a 20-min intermission. Available only in Sydney and Melbourne. Special ticket pricing applies ($25, discounts not applicable).

It is 2021 in Tokyo and Japan is plagued with youth unemployment, skyrocketing suicide numbers and a rotten social welfare system. Tokyo is breaking down and Shinji (Masaki Suda), a hot-headed delinquent, and Kenji (Yang Ik-June), a stuttering barber, are in the thick of it all. Struggling to find their place in society, they find solace and brotherhood in the boxing ring, despite their contrasting personalities.

Wilderness is based on arthouse screenwriter Shuji Terayama’s first novel, Aa Koya, published in 1966. Set in a dystopian but eerily familiar Shinjuku, director Yoshiyuki Kishi (A Double Life) puts together a fascinating existentialist journey that probes into society, identity, and masculinity.

2018 Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor; 2018 Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor; 2018 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film

“Suda’s Shinji has a confident swagger and the cocky manner of someone who doesn’t care too much what others think. Yang’s Kenji is in a permanent state of uncertainty, constantly bowing and apologising for his very existence.” – Allan Hunter, Screen Daily