The World of Kanako

Adapting the wildly popular yet extremely violent and explicit Akio Fukamachi novel Hateshinaki Kawaki for the big screen was bound to be a challenge. But director Tetsuya Nakashima (Confessions, Kamikaze Girls) took it on, telling his version of the story with rapid-fire editing and buckets of blood.

Fans of Japanese cinema will likely recognize Kôji Yakusho (The Eel, The Cure), who stars as a disgraced ex-cop and father looking for his missing daughter. The pulp story line reveals how the opportunity for redemption is spurned in favor of a chance for revenge at every turn; despite their estranged relationship, the pair at its center are revealed to have much more in common than blood (genetic and otherwise). Through flashbacks and stylized dream sequences, the truth unravels slowly -- but the action is nonstop.