Mamoru (Asano Tadanobu) is a 27-year-old factory worker, whose sole purpose in life is to mutate his hauntingly luminous yet poisonous jellyfish into a freshwater creature. His intense antisocial behaviour is echoed by his co-worker, and sole friend, Yuji. They also share a dislike for their intrusively friendly boss, Fujiwara, but Mamoru is the one who takes matters to the extreme, murdering both Fujiwara and his wife. With Mamoru in prison awaiting execution, Yuji is entrusted with the care of the lethal jellyfish.

As the day for the creature's transformation looms ever closer, Yuji befriends the doomed man's father, Shin-ichiro. Just when Yuji's life takes a turn for the better, the jellyfish literally slips through his fingers into a river, set to multiply and poison the city. Called a 'beautiful monster movie' by Midnight Eye, this striking film from Kurosawa Kiyoshi (Doppleganger, also in MIFF this year), originally titled Jellyfish Alert, debuted in Official Competition at Cannes last year.

'Brilliantly defying the subtle boundaries between fiction and documentary, Kurosawa studies his characters' actions and physicality, defining their personalities and inner turmoil through sparse, often cryptic exchanges' a visually powerful work.' -Toronto International Film Festival

D/S Kurosawa Kiyoshi P Asai Takashi WS Celluloid Dreams L Japanese w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2002/92mins

Kurosawa Kiyoshi was born in Kobe, Japan in 1955. Films include: Kandagawa Wars (1983), Cure (1997), Pulse (2001).