The Gesuidouz Rocks Up @TIFF 2024

FERNTV loves how programmer Peter Kuplowsky’s selections for Midnight Madness get zanier and crazier every year. The Gesuidouz has to be one of those films that came across Kuplowsky’s lap that was unexpected. He must have felt that this Japanese film from director Kenichi Ugana was one of the most off-the-wall humorous films coming from the Land of the Rising Sun. TIFF and especially the Midnight Madness platform has supported all Japanese films of different genres throughout the years. Though The Gesuidouz is a cross-genre film that just totally works out in the end which makes Ugana that much more intelligent in his efforts.

The film introduces the band The Gesuidouz led by Natsuko who plays Hanako who one-day dreams of taking this horror-theme-based band to the Glastonbury Festival. The only problem though is that they are really bad and nobody knows about them. Except for one nerd who buys their CD as you can see they are not selling their product at all. They don’t have an audience so they have their work cut out for them. Hanako also believes she does not have that much time left in her life. Just like Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, she believes she is going to die at the age of 27. So she must lead her band to the promised land in about a year which is a tall order in itself.

The Gesuidouz are offered a chance by their unsupportive manager to go to the rural farms in the countryside of Japan to find themselves and finally write a hit song. There they would get to know one another in a different light and begin to write songs that would make them go over and sound like the horror-punk-based band that they always dreamed of being.

The Gesuidouz start to do this in the countryside ironically as they tighten up their sound and where their lyrics would make a lot more sense. Natsuko and the rest of the band’s morals start to rise as they not only share their love for music but also their love for themselves, their friendship and the food they prepare and share.

Known to be an auspicious director, Kenichi Ugana makes a banger of a film with The Gesuidouz. The film is so much fun to watch which goes hand in hand with the programming of Midnight Madness. Just watching Natskuko’s room filled with horror paraphernalia such as the iconic “Humongous” poster from the ’80s is a joy. But watching her spit out lyrics and naming all the big killing villains in every horror film is so hilarious. That coming from a Japanese band is also alluring. Also, the fact that the drummer is white and speaks Japanese as well makes the band that much more compelling. We can see that Ugana puts in the right elements in the film to make it sail smoothly while crossing all genres.

We have seen in the past such as films such as Green Room and The Ranger that punk rock and horror go hand in hand. But The Gesuidouz is a close encounter of a different kind. You will be surprised to see how delightful this film is and how so much fun it can be to watch a film that would set the stage for other films to take flight in crossing genres. Director Kenichi Ugana puts the fun into directing and reminds other directors that directing and storytelling should always be fun. FERNTV knows that is such a plus for the audience.