Japanese omnibus films have long showcased new and upcoming directors, while critics have tended to grade their segments from the strongest to the weakest. But veteran directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” 2021) and Mayu Nakamura (“She Is Me, I Am Her,” 2022) have recently released omnibuses of uniformly excellent quality, making the ranking-chart review seem beside the point.
That is also true of Yukiko Mishima’s new omnibus on the theme of life-long trauma, “Voice.” Scripted and co-produced by Mishima, the film was inspired by the director’s own experience with sexual assault when she was a child. It does not, however, tip over into personal confession.
The film uses a variety of narrative strategies and stylistic tropes to knit its three segments into a coherent, powerful whole, as its protagonists reveal with raw immediacy the emotional wounds that decades have not healed.
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