Guest
The title is a phonetical arrangement in kanji Chinese characters of camp, a concept synonymous with Michio Okabe. Okabe radically explores his distinct, Japanese camp aesthetic in the enclosed space of the film world. As written in the kanji, “precious night, wealth of dreams” (貴い夜、夢の富), inhabitants of the night world such as butoh dancer, gay character, night watch, violinist, masseuse, yakitori shop, vampire, dog, and cat, appear one after another and unfold a disastrous but beautiful soirée. In the unbound freeing of the epicurean desires, one may observe influence of Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures (1963), by which Okabe was moved. However, the use of fixed camera to create a picture frame in order to erase the depth within the screen, and the transformation of scandalous acts into a fantastic freak show is Okabe’s original. Incorporating slides and nursery rhyme that sets off the images of adolescent’s daydream and Japanese nostalgia is also Okabe’s distinctive take. Packing in Okabe’s camp aesthetic, this film is full of highlights, but the “Swan’s Lake” scene with Mitsutaka Ishii, the ankoku butoh (dance of darkness) dancer and naked men, could be called this film’s centerpiece.
