Product Details

• Actors: Tomoroh Taguchi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yuji Kohtari, Susumu Terajima, Asuka Kurosawa
• Directors: Shinya Tsukamoto
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Tartan Video
• DVD Release Date: February 22, 2005
• Run Time: 77 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FZEQF0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,453 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 06/27/2006

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Snake of June Movie Review, November 28, 2007

By 

thejoelmeister "www.GoneWithTheTwins.com" (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Snake of June (DVD)

Just as twistedly brilliant as Tetsuo, though slightly less hyperkinetic, Tsukamoto's A Snake of June explores similar themes of repressed sexuality and contrasting worlds, but with a far more linear plotline. Though metallic phallus imagery and psychosexual encounters do make an appearance.

When suicide hotline counselor Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa) receives explicit photos of herself from a mysterious caller, she is thrown into a depraved game of hidden fantasies and unrestrained sexual desire. As the voyeuristic stalker becomes determined to alter her passionless life, Rinko's compulsively clean husband Shigehiko (Yuji Koutari) attempts to hunt him down and the three disillusioned soul's paths will inevitably intertwine.

Tsukamoto's visual style is unmistakably daring and A Snake of June is no exception. Bathed in blue to suggest the unrelenting presence of water, the images created are painstakingly crafted and unforgettably bizarre. Close-ups of snails, drains, and circular windows mix with frantic shots of action and nightmarishly surreal dreams pepper reality. Far more linear than some of Tsukamoto's previous efforts, there's still plenty of hallucinatory imagery to comprehend, most memorably the sex show dream sequence accenting the themes of voyeurism and the contrast of viewing the organic through circles. Frenetic editing and dizzying camerawork also strive to keep this thriller from ever slowing down, and even during extended single shots on a stationary subject, the camera refuses to stay put, heightening the sense of voyeurism and paranoia. Even in the chapter breaks Tsukamoto's maddeningly creative artistry is at work as curious symbols denote the passing of time and the gradual joining of figures.

To match the delirious visuals is a fantastically diverse array of sound effects and music from composer Chu Ishikawa. Unending rain echoes in every scene and foreboding strings alternate the mood from morose to morbid, yet there's always a calming satisfaction from the violins. Percussive tribalistic music heavy with the sounds of clanging metal enhances the tense scenes of violence and operatic tones waft through the more surrealistic segments.

With disturbing imagery reminiscent of David Lynch's Eraserhead (but with more meaningful parallels and less unexplained randomness), A Snake of June is a brilliant examination of voyeurism, buried desires, and suppressed passion through the looking glass of a twisted genius. Tsukamoto again proves he is the master of the sadistically surreal and has long since passed his American counterparts in both style and presentation.

- Joel Massie

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars finding the true self, February 28, 2005

By 

Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Snake of June (DVD)

Short-haired, bespectacled Rinko works at a suicide prevention hotline talking with individuals who have given up on life, but who are seeking help in order to find a reason why to keep on living. One day a pornographer calls her, and through her advice decides to keep on living. However, instead of just giving her his thanks, the man becomes completely obsessed with her, taking numerous pictures of Rinko during her most private moments. One day Rinko receives an envelope with the caption "Your Husband's Secret" which contains photographs of Rinko masturbating. Soon after being shocked by the photos, Rinko receives a phone call from the pornographer. Refusing to listen to his demands, Rinko tries to ignore the man, but envelopes of pictures continue to arrive in the mail, including a set which depicts Rinko, making herself a very short dress and putting on make up. Two things that her neat freak, middle-aged husband, Shigehiko, would never aprove of.

Determined to get back the pictures, Rinko listens to the pornographer's demands: to go out in public in her mini-skirt and purchase a dildo.

This of course is just the beginning of the film. The viewer gains a good glimpse of the personalities of both Rinko and Shigehiko through the prying eye of the pornographer.

The film is completely in black and white which makes the film seedier. There are some really surreal scenes, and a few surprises.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars explore your inner dark side..., December 26, 2006

By 

Artos (Melbourne, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Snake of June (DVD)

alot of people have expressed dissatisfaction for this film, i feel maybe its because the people compare this to his other works a little too rash, but maybe not. shinya tsukamoto is one of of my top favorite directors & i found this film to be quite a pleasureable film experience (though often throughout the film you cant tell whether the characters pleasure or disquietude; i think thats what i enjoyed the most). the cinematography is bliss; a grand blue tinted b/w & plenty of rain to fit the mood. i enjoyed the three central characters as well, finding tsukamoto's character, iguchi, to be my favorite. perhaps because he is the most complex character throughout the film. sure, his "personal & devestating" secret is revealed towards the film's conclusion, but even that aside, you never really pick up upon what is really driving his behavior and actions towards tatsumi. a logical person would maybe identify a sense of sadomasochism, but i like to think deeper than that, almost as if through this "sadism" he is freeing her from a life she thinks she wants, but in her heart, knows she doesnt.

i think maybe viewers were approaching this one more logically because it was less abstract than, say the tetsuo films, or even vital. it focused more on what could be a realistic situation and often a cliche in mystery films(the married couple who's life is shattered by a voyeaur's constant prowl/spy)which did not end like a cliche mystery would, but then again, tsukamoto never really presents this film as a mystery, to me it seems more like a symblism used through urban lore about someone who has lost hope in himself and attempted to, in his own point of view, try and restore hope to the person who helped him find his again, or so it may seem...

i honestly find it hard(& innapropriate) to summarize snake of june or any of tsukamoto's films like an elementary schoolkid would on some book report, so all i can say is that though this is not a good place to start in viewing tsukamoto's films, it is a still a worthy watch, especially if you are already a fan of tsukamoto, or are just open to watching something completly different.