Today I welcome Tom Brown– librarian, cinephile, photographer, and friend– to talk about his favorite and a new favorite of mine, Pulse or Kairo (2001) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Tom and I talk about Pulse chronologically scene-by-scene in this episode, probably because almost every shot is gorgeous and “unheimlich.” We also discuss our experience with J-horror, why ghosts are scary (and why Kurosawa thinks ghosts are scary), Harue’s gorgeous apartment, amazing sound design, and how death is eternal loneliness. Tom knows SO much about film production and the production of this movie in particular so you know this is a good one. Happy listening! :)
Please note that suicide is a major plot point of this film so we do discuss suicide throughout. In a less serious production note, Kevin the Cat makes an appearance and meows around 25-30 min and at around the hour mark. Apologies!
00:00-14:30- Intro / How Tom Got Into Movies & Horror / How We First Got Into J-Horror & Pulse
14:30-39:00- Brief Synopsis / Themes of Ghosts, Tech & Loneliness
39:00-01:01:00- Score & Sound Design / Special Effects / The End
01:01:00-01:19:00- The American Remake / Video Game Playalikes / Double Feature Ideas / Outro
Please note, timestamps are estimates.
References:
Arrow Video Release of Pulse (mentioned by Tom; Kurosawa interview)
Chris’ Guide to Understanding Japanese Horror (6/12/2011)
Emerging Cinema Master- Kiyoshi Kurosawa on DVDTalk
J-Horror- Guide to the Unknown podcast episode (4/29/2020) (they also recently did an episode on the American remake of Pulse)
Lost Decades (Wikipedia)
The Psychosocial Dread at the Heart of Japanese Horror by Michael Atkinson (10/29/2024)
Whistle and I’ll Come to You movie (mentioned by Chloe re: sound design)
Books mentioned:
Asian Horror by Andy Richards (mentioned by Chloe)
White Noise by Don DeLillo (the first book Tom & I read together and it shares some similarities with the end of Pulse, actually!)
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The sound used in this episode is from the Pulse (2001) trailer and film, used for educational purposes.
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