Director: Takashi Ito
Year: 1984
Time: 5 mins
Music: Yosuke Inagaki
One of the most important names in Japanese experimental film, Takashi Ito has built a long and rich filmography that (and this is increasingly rare in experimental arts) bears a clear and unmistakeable signature. In Ghost, as in many of his films, Ito explores some of the most basic dimensions of cinematic illusion, such as space depth, lightning and movement, to create a visual feast that seems to touch on the horror genre. But it's not quite so, for the Ghost we are allowed to see is not designed to frighten but to mesmerize the spectators. Bulb shutters, long exposures and time-lapse are used to dazzle perception and insinuate the presence of floating life-forms in a closed space. Inagaki's soundtrack kicks off with a steady electronic ambiance but soon descends into a hellish world of rhythmical distortion and mutli-dimensional lo-fi mayhem. I don't think your children will be scared with this extraordinary piece, but if you do have them, please make them watch this in a closed dark room and report the results. -- Eye of Sound