THE MAD FOX

“Diverse” doesn’t quite cover the work of Japanese filmmaker Tomu Uchida, who in the course of a near 50-year career made everything from silent movies to Samurai sagas. The Mad Fox (also known as Love, Thy Name Be Sorrow) is perhaps his strangest work, a fantasy fable that dazzles with its visuals, especially on this gloriously restored Blu-ray.

An astrologer in medieval Japan predicts turbulent times ahead and, yep, shortly afterwards he’s bumped off, his daughter Sakaki (Michiko Saga) commits suicide, and his young apprentice, Yasuna (Hashizô Ôkawa) is accused of stealing an ancient scroll, The Golden Crow. Yasuna flees into the wilderness, where he encounters Sakaki’s long-lost twin sister and some ancient animal spirits.

Uchida calls on a huge array of stylistic techniques and practical effects that blur the lines between film and theatre to convey Yasuna’s adventures. Occasionally, as in the scene where he awakes in a hazy yellow world on a bed of petals, it is overwhelmingly beautiful, albeit undercut with a sense of surreal menace. It’s not always easy to follow and the initial court scenes are a bit of a drag, but The Mad Fox is a marvel of filmmaking ingenuity.

Extras A pretty informative commentary from Japanese film specialist Jasper Sharp, plus a trailer and a gallery.