Obayashi sets the scene at Setouchi Kinema, an old movie theater in his coastal hometown Onomichi in Hiroshima prefecture.
Japanese Director Nobuhiko Obayashi Dies at 82 Ironically, the film was originally scheduled for domestic theatrical release on that day, before the pandemic forced a postponement.Ĭrescendo House Opens Doors to Reinvention of Film Distribution in the Era of Streaming (EXCLUSIVE)
He survived to see its world premiere at the 2019 Tokyo Film Festival before passing away on April 10, 2020, aged 82. Defying a prognosis that gave him just months to live, Obayashi then co-wrote, directed and co-edited this three-hour feature while undergoing treatment. After being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2016, Obayashi completed “Hanagatami” (2017), the final chapter in his anti-war trilogy that included “Casting Blossoms to the Sky” (2012) and “Seven Weeks” (2014). It’s something of a miracle that “Labyrinth of Cinema” exists. Opening with a riotous bombardment of sound and image that risks confusing and losing some viewers even as it sends others into rapturous delight, “ Labyrinth of Cinema” then makes sense of the chaos and emerges as The ne plus ultra of Japanese maverick Nobuhiko Obayashi’s work as a surrealist and staunch anti-war advocate, the cult “House” director’s dizzying and frequently dazzling final feature is told through the adventures of four young people who are magically transported into the movies themselves.