Buddies working at an oshibori factory bond over an uncontrollable rage neither can control, as well as a strange jellyfish they keep as a pet.
Direction
Kurosawa's unnerving stillness makes dread feel boring—in a good way.
Acting
Odagiri's vacant eyes deserve their own billing.
Cinematography
Every fluorescent-lit laundromat shot aches with loneliness.
Director
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Japan's 'Lost Decade' aftermath, the film captures freeter culture—young workers trapped in dead-end jobs with no ladder up. Kurosawa called it his 'most personal' work.
The jellyfish was real and required its own temperature-controlled tank on set; it outperformed some cast members in emotional range.
JP
