Koji Shiraishi's Grotesque

I wrote about the UK banning of Koji Shiraishi’s Grotesque a month or so back, primarily to refocus attention on what the role of the BBFC is in this increasingly multimedia, fast download age, as well as exploring issues of whether the Japanese have a particular penchant for blood-drenched sadism or whether it’s in fact us in the West who select our image of Japanese film to fit our own tastes and preconceptions. Anyway, the news of the ban got back to Tokyo, resulting in this fascinating article in Metropolis magazine by Sarah Cortina, which explores just these sort of issues. I was one of the interviewees for the piece, and the only one based in the UK. Others include Shiraishi himself, who now rather interestingly is suggesting his future filmmaking path lies in more comic territory, Robo Geisha producer Akira Yamaguchi and Tokyo Gore Police director Yoshihiro Nishimura. Well, I doubt I’m going to win myself any new friends with my comments on this kind of film, but I like the angle of the piece, and it’s always an honour to be cited in such a widely-circulated magazine.