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Pieter-Jan Van Haecke
Tomatometer-approved critic
Pieter-Jan Van Haecke is a Belgian critic currently living in Japan. He solely focusing on Japanese cinema and provides in-depth reviews from a unique psychoanalytical perspective.
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Call Me Chihiro (2023) |
While Call Me Chihiro can not be counted among Imaizumi’s best, he still delivers an engaging exploration of the subjective struggle to escape loneliness. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Sadako DX (2022) |
Sadako DX is a nothing but a failed re-imagining of a classic horror-story. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 17, 2023
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Roleless (2022) |
Everything has been pushed out of the field of consciousness. It is a radical erasure that leaves ‘nothing’; it evacuates the imaginary lid of the ego and leaves nothing other than a gap of subjective emptiness... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 10, 2023
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The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) |
The musical accompaniment, which of course draws inspiration from Kabuki, is highly effective in emphasizing thedramatic turns the narrative takes and accompanying the radical disturbance... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 03, 2023
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Yotsuya Kaidan, Part II (1949) |
Keinosuke offers a moving answer to the question of how far frustration can push a subject. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 03, 2023
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Yotsuya Kaidan (1949) |
Ghostly revenge narratives, but one cannot say that the psychological dimension is completely absent in these narratives... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 03, 2023
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Ice Cream Fever (2023) |
Ice Cream Fever offers a gorgeous stylish exploration of the subjective struggles and the solutions subjects invent within the field of love and desire. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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The Cinderella Addiction (2021) |
The visual pleasure of Watanabe’s composition – a composition that beautifully balances static and dynamic moments – is function of its enticing compositional rhythm... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Okiku and the World (2023) |
It, in fact, becomes a signifier of an unimageable thing with no boundaries that can be contrasted with other signifiers to poetically evoke a certain subjective feeling. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 27, 2023
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Satsujin Yuugi (1978) |
The Killing Game benefits from Yusaku Matsuda’s demanding acting performance – he simply owns each visual frame. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 18, 2023
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Food Luck (2020) |
Food Luck is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 12, 2023
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Is This Heaven? (2022) |
Is This Heaven? is an experimental narrative that gives the idea of wandering spirits a fresh and whimsical spin. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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Tea Friend (2022) |
This latest movie does not merely return to the themes he touched upon. Rather, he takes the opportunity to explore something that, up until today, is still considered taboo: the sexuality of the elderly subject... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Oct 06, 2023
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Love Will Tear Us Apart (2023) |
Shaky shots are utilized to powerfully reverberate the subjective turmoil the sight of the violence causes. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Sep 29, 2023
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Chokugeki Jigokuken Daigyakuten (1974) |
All The Executioner II: Karate Inferno had to do was deliver more martial arts moments and develop the characters and their conflicts a bit more. Yet, instead, Toei delivered a cheap imitation of a western espionage-narrative. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Father of the Milky Way Railroad (2023) |
Father of The Milky Way Road, despite being structured around the exploitation of loss for dramatic and emotional effect, is a narrative worth seeing. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Sep 18, 2023
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You're Not Normal, Either! (2020) |
A pleasant film, but nothing more than that... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Golgo 13 (1973) |
Golgo 13 is a pleasant action-narrative that is all about celebrating the character Golgo 13. This emphasis results a narrative that is not too deep and complicated, but is structured in such a way that spectators can fully enjoy... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Mottomo Kiken na Yuugi (1978) |
Luckily, Murakawa does not overly rely on musical accompaniment to set the mood. In many cases, the quality of the atmosphere (e.g. a tensive atmosphere) is a result of the acting-performances as such. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Aug 08, 2023
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River (2023) |
If you like low-key humour and some time-twisting fun, you should not miss Yamaguchi’s latest. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Aug 03, 2023
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Shin Kamen Rider (2023) |
With Shin Kamen Rider, Anno delivers an action-hero experience that is both incredibly fun and emotionally touching. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jul 28, 2023
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Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) |
By echoing the atomic fears within the post-war society, Sekizawa avoids Ebirah merely being a reworked copy of his previous narratives. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Bullet Train (1975) |
The Bullet Train is a highly engaging and satisfying thriller narrative. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Conflagration (1958) |
Ichikawa succeeds in echoing how the crumbling of the imperialistic dream played its role in making the father – imaginary as well as symbolically – malfunction for many subjects. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Re/Member (2022) |
Hasumi’s Re/Member is, in short, a pleasant experience that succeeds in offering both the thrills of a horror-slasher as well as a touching exploration of romantic and amical feelings. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jul 13, 2023
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Ox-Head Village (2021) |
Ox-Head Village is a solid horror-movie that pleasantly utilizes a sense mystery to engage the spectator and fluidly integrated unsettling imagery to put the spectator ill at ease and even scared... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jun 15, 2023
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Egoist (2022) |
Egoist, an exquisitely visualized fragment of Takayama Makoto’s personal trajectory. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jun 15, 2023
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Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965) |
Invasion of Astro Monster is a great narrative that is marred by budget and time-constraints. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jun 02, 2023
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The Trail of Blood (1972) |
With Trail Of Blood, Ikehiro stylishly celebrates the Matatabi film of the past and offers the chanbara-enthusiast enough sword-fighting action to satisfy him/her. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jun 02, 2023
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Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (1998) |
A blast from start to finish. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jun 02, 2023
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The Door Into Summer (2021) |
While flashbacks and dramatic music are applied to heighten the emotional investment of the spectator, the melo-dramatic nature of these moments elegantly underline that the cast are unable to fuel the emotions of the narrative with their performances. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Electric Dragon 80,000 V (2001) |
While, thematically speaking, the narrative is an empty shell, the beauty of the monochrome visuals as well as the roughness of the musical accompaniment is enough to keep the spectator engaged from start to finish. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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The Executioner (1974) |
The satisfactory nature of the fighting-sequences is not only determined by Hatsumi’s choreographies, but also by the sound-design. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Three Little Geisha (1973) |
Takamori’s narrative does more than just serve some youthful actresses for the visual enjoyment of the male spectator, but also allows said spectator to laugh with what is essentially his own phallic stupidity. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965) |
The composition of King Ghidorah: the three headed monster proves that Honda has settled for a certain consistent visual style. Once again, his composition has a pleasant visual rhythm... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Go (2001) |
Yukisada’s Go is a must-see, not only for its elegant composition, but for the societal truth it powerfully sketches out. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Little Nights, Little Love (2019) |
Imaizumi’s narrative succeeds in touching the spectator by blending an effective narrative structure with a composition that puts emphasis on the communicative power of expressions. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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The Ghost in the Well (1957) |
Ghost in The Well might be a short narrative, but it hits all the right emotional notes for a tragic love story. Toshikazu Kono, in fact, blends compositional drama with musical drama so pleasingly... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Plan 75 (2022) |
With Plan 75, Hayakawa hauntingly confronts the spectator with what would happen if the existence of the subject was radically reduced by the government to how much he/she financially contributes to the society. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted May 11, 2023
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Rodan (1957) |
The use of painted backgrounds to fleetingly introduce different locations like Peking, the Philippines and Okinawa might feel cheap, but it does not detract or disturb the investment of the spectator in the narrative. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Apr 03, 2023
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Ju-on: The Grudge (2003) |
The lighting-design of Ju-On: The Grudge is fantastic. Shimizu refuses to cheaply exploit darkness to make the scares and horror stronger... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Funeral Parade (1969) |
Matsumoto makes great use of jump-cuts, fast montages, and intertitles. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Mar 02, 2023
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Mad Cats (2023) |
Reiki Tsuno elegantly blends character-related silliness with situational tension to delivers a dose of cinematic pleasure that does not only provides the laughs but also engages the spectator with well-choreographed action. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Feb 17, 2023
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Birds Without Names (2017) |
Bird Without Names is an amazing romance-drama narrative. It is due to its effective narrative structure and the amazing acting-performances by Sadao Abe and Yu Aoi. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jan 26, 2023
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Missing (2021) |
With Missing, Shinzo Katayama delivers one of the most satisfying drama-thrillers this year. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Jan 13, 2023
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King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) |
Honda’s King Kong Vs Godzilla is a splendid Godzilla narrative that delivers thrilling kaiju action while elegantly exploring the impact of the rise of capitalism and consumerism on Japanese society... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Dec 29, 2022
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The Nighthawk's First Love (2021) |
The naturalistic composition, coupled with the sparse but thoughtful use of musical accompaniment, creates a supportive frame upon which Rena Matsui and Ayumu Nakajima are able to breathe a sense of genuineness... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Dec 17, 2022
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Wedding High (2022) |
With Wedding High, Akiku Ohku might not only have delivered her best narrative yet, but one of the best comedy narratives of this year. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Dec 17, 2022
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Dreaming of the Meridian Arc (2022) |
Dreaming Of The Meridian Arc is a pleasant narrative due to the chemistry between Kenichi Matsuyama and Kiichi Nakai and the satisfying delivery... - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Dec 08, 2022
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Two on the Edge (2021) |
Kitaguchu, with his elegant composition, opens up the space for Meiri Asahina to make Otose feel genuine and her subjective conflict the power to captivate the spectator. Asahina, in short, impresses. - Psychocinematography
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| Posted Nov 30, 2022
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