TATSUKO
TATSUKO silent B/W 44mins
‘Hauntingly beautiful, dramatically gripping yet enigmatic, Tatsuko draws the viewer into a world dominated by a strange landscape, where the familiar becomes alien and human relationships are intense yet completely distant.
The story is simple: a hooded man arrives at a remote farmhouse. The artist who inhabits the house, goes about her daily self absorbed routine, oblivious to the dark figure watching her. Slowly he begins to inhabit her territory, watching, waiting. Scuttling away when she is near, yet closer to her than her own breath. Is he real, or a shadow? Is he malign, or a guardian angel?
The film's cinematography is breathtaking, making the most of both the wild Welsh landscape, and the way that ordinary interiors can be imbued with suspense. In their majestic stillness, the shots breathe the artistry of Antonioni, while the enigmatic yet intense story echoes Tarkovsky.
Ibbitson's status as a master painter can be seen and felt in every frame. Tatsuko, as well as being hugely entertaining, is an object lesson in how that most traditional of art forms, painting, can be a discipline and a catalyst to electrify and deliver art cinema of the highest quality.’
Gillian McIver co-director Studio 75 Arts, London
Watch the film trailer here