Prisoners of the Ghostland (4 Stars)

I've been waiting a long time for this film. It should have been released in 2020, but it was delayed by the Corona pandemic. Now I finally have the Blu-ray disc in my hands, almost two years later. It's important enough for me to interrupt my true stories film marathon.

"Prisoners of the Ghostland" was announced as Sion Sono's first English language film. That's stretching it a bit. The film takes place in Japan, and there's a mixture of English and Japanese. I estimate that the languages are evenly distributed. Even Nicolas Cage speaks Japanese in some scenes.

The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, or at least a post-apocalyptic Japan. Unlike other post-apocalyptic films, the action takes place soon after the catastrophe. It's not stated how long, but it can't be more than ten years.

The wealthy and relatively healthy people live in a place called Samurai Town. It's ruled by a man called the Governor, who has chosen to model the town on an old wild western town, complete with cowboys and saloons. There's a nearby settlement called the Ghostland, where the poor and physically deformed live. The Governor keeps a harem of young women that he calls his granddaughters. They're actually sex slaves. His favourite slave, Bernice, flees to the Ghostland. The Governor asks an unnamed convicted murderer to fetch her back. As the film progresses this man is given the name Hero.

Nicolas Cage says this is the wildest film he's ever made. Yes, it's wild, but if you take it in the context of post-apocalyptic films it's very normal. It follows the rules for the genre. It's a society that has descended into chaos, with snippets of past cultures thrown together, because nobody understands their context. Religion and superstition are side by side. There are many precedents in film history. While watching it I was reminded of "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", although it's most similar to the Axa newspaper strip. I used to have a collection of the Axa cartoons in book form, but it was stolen by Thomas Kuzilla of Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

It's no secret that I don't like post-apocalyptic films. The chaos and the anything-is-possible scenarios disturb me. Nevertheless, Sion Sono has done a good job, making "Prisoners of the Ghostland" a welcome addition to the genre. I'll watch it again soon, probably as soon as I've finished my true stories film marathon.

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