(逆噴射家族)
 Directed by Gakuryu Ishii 
106 Minutes
In Japanese with English subtitles 

I've recently been showing a string of movies by the criminally neglected Japanese director Gakuryu 'Sogo' Ishii. This film in particular was transitional in his trajectory, leaving behind the gear of his cyberpunk movement days, but still keeping the spirit of rebellion. This is a family drama, but one of the blows apart the entire family unit and shows it as being dysfunctional, which despite appearances, many 'normal' families really are.

The family of this flick have been living in a cramped apartment in Tokyo and have finally achieved their Americanized dream—a spacious house of their own in the suburbs. This pretext serves Gakuryu Ishii with a stick to beat the fake dreams of both the family, and the gentrification of society at large. Everybody is overjoyed, and as they move into their new life they are getting ready for the good life. But then something unexpected happens—the house, including its foundation, is infested with notorious white ants. As this disaster unfolds, all the tensions that were hidden in the family unit, and society in general, rush to the surface. Everybody starts falling apart at the seams, none of them can think of anything else but the invading ants—the father can't do his job, the wife loses her nerve, the sister who wanted to be a model abandons her career, and grandpa experiences flashbacks from the second world war. 

As the movie continues they desperately start destroying their own home in hopes of getting rid of the ants, and along the way they become more and more unhinged. What follows is pure surrealism and whacked-out expressionism with a sharp social critique. The only person involved in the cast that people here in the West might know is actress Kudô Yûki who was 13 when this was made. Five years later she starred in a movie by Jim Jarmusch called Mystery Train.

Needless to say this black comedy is another crazy diamond by Ishii, and one studded with surrealistic explosions. It has a huge cult following amongst those who had the chance to see it—otherwise it has been written off the map, and has rarely ever been screened outside of Japan.