Synopsis

Suzuki Seijun’s hallucinatory second entry in his Taisho Trilogy plays like an Eastern cousin to the work of David Lynch, melding a feverish exploration of the theatrical arts with Suzuki’s trademark surreal imagery and dreamlike narratives. Adapted from a work by Taisho-era writer Izumi Kyoka, the film follows Matsuzaki, a playwright whose chance encounter with a ghostly woman leads to a deepening obsession that may spell his doom. Also known by the title Kagero-za, Heat-Haze Theatre is Suzuki at his most daring and fantastic, and culminates in a surreal kabuki performance that unnervingly captures Matsuzaki’s life, and perhaps also his death.