"Carnival in the Night"
1982
Directed by Masashi Yamamoto

Edgy indie director Masashi Yamamota (Junk Foo) captures the punk scene of 1980s Japan in this prickly early film. Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, Yamamota gets the most out of a cast of young toughs who more or less play themselves, while shooting on 16mm for an appropriately gritty style. A punk rocker leaves her son with her ex-husband and begins an unusual odyssey through Tokyo's underbelly. Each person she meets is stranger than the last, with each encounter more disturbing. Yami no Carnival was an Official Selection at the Berlin International Film Festival. Japanese with English subtitles.  108 minutes.