5/5 Like David Lynch meets David Cronenberg.
  by Saint Thomas (Kent, Ohio)
Wow. This is a powerful movie. I've always been a fan of Shinya Tsukamoto's films (TETSUO : THE IRON MAN and NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE) but this movie is something else. His films are all very strange, very interesting and very absorbing in nature. I was exposed to Tsukamoto at a pretty young age with TETSUO and to say it had a lasting impression on me is an understatement.

A SNAKE OF JUNE is yet another wonderful film addition to his already incredible library of movies he's directed. I had always wanted to see this film but wasn't given a chance until recently, when I bought it from Amazon. Long after the movie was over, I kept thinking about the subject matter and the underlying tones in the film. A SNAKE OF JUNE is the type of movie that comes along and makes you think about your own personal life.

The movie itself is filmed in an entirely blue camera lens (or maybe they filmed it in black and white, coloring it blue afterwards) which gives the movie a very cold and desolate feeling. It seems like its always raining in the movie, which I'm sure is another underlying tone to the over all film.

The story itself has a very Cronenberg feel, with it's strong sexual over tones and basic plot. The story concerns a young married woman (who works for a suicide phone line) and her work obsessed husband. He also happens to be a neat freak to boot. The character studies between these two are very interesting, if not a tad bit obvious. The woman in this story is rather repressed sexually by her husband and his obsession with being clean all the time just adds to the pent up tension between the two.

Meanwhile, our main female character helps a man at her job, on the suicide help line. This turns out to be a mistake (at first) because he eventually stalks and photographs her during a more "private" moment at home, when her husband is at work. Things start to take a turn for the worst as her mystery caller demands that she does his bidding, otherwise he'll turn over the photo's that he has to her husband. The movie then spirals out of control as our main character dives into a world of personal lust and hidden sexual urges.

I won't say anymore at the risk of spoiling the movie for some. A SNAKE OF JUNE is Shinya Tsukamoto's most straight forward movie and yet, it's also on the same level as TETSUO : IRON MAN in terms of execution. Parts of the movie feel surreal, while other moments have the heart and warmth of any outstanding epic.

The bottom line, this is an amazing and interesting movie. It's not my favorite film Shinya Tsukamoto has directed (that would go to NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE), but it's definitely a strong movie never the less. The story and the message of the movie leave lasting impressions. The over all execution is truly a work of art.

Gore Hounds, skip it. Outside of some weird scenes and the blue lens, this movie is purely psychological and not really scary. Then again, it's not meant to be. A SNAKE OF JUNE is a beautiful and haunting movie and nothing more. It's a movie that deserves more recognition that it gets. Enough said.

Over and out.

5/5 Una de las obras más creativas y originales del Terror Oriental de los últimos años
  by David Ricardo Borja Cano (Guadalajara, México)
El universo cinematográfico de Shinya Tsukamato se vuelca de lleno en "Una serpiente de junio" donde la sensualidad, la electrónica generadora de cyborgs, erotísmo, paraonia y esquizofrenia dan lugar a una obra compleja llena de atmósfera y suspenso.
Del mismo director de "Tetsuo, el hombre de hierro" y con la joven revelación plena de belleza y sensualidad Asuka Kurosawa.
Una obra de culto más de su realizador.
Con una trama más sencilla que el resto su de su filmografía, pero más efectiva dentro de la generación de realizadores del llamado Terror Oriental.


4/5 A Snake of June Movie Review
  by thejoelmeister (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com)
Just as twistedly brilliant as Tetsuo, though slightly less hyperkinetic, Tsukamoto's A Snake of June explores similar themes of repressed sexuality and contrasting worlds, but with a far more linear plotline. Though metallic phallus imagery and psychosexual encounters do make an appearance.

When suicide hotline counselor Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa) receives explicit photos of herself from a mysterious caller, she is thrown into a depraved game of hidden fantasies and unrestrained sexual desire. As the voyeuristic stalker becomes determined to alter her passionless life, Rinko's compulsively clean husband Shigehiko (Yuji Koutari) attempts to hunt him down and the three disillusioned soul's paths will inevitably intertwine.

Tsukamoto's visual style is unmistakably daring and A Snake of June is no exception. Bathed in blue to suggest the unrelenting presence of water, the images created are painstakingly crafted and unforgettably bizarre. Close-ups of snails, drains, and circular windows mix with frantic shots of action and nightmarishly surreal dreams pepper reality. Far more linear than some of Tsukamoto's previous efforts, there's still plenty of hallucinatory imagery to comprehend, most memorably the sex show dream sequence accenting the themes of voyeurism and the contrast of viewing the organic through circles. Frenetic editing and dizzying camerawork also strive to keep this thriller from ever slowing down, and even during extended single shots on a stationary subject, the camera refuses to stay put, heightening the sense of voyeurism and paranoia. Even in the chapter breaks Tsukamoto's maddeningly creative artistry is at work as curious symbols denote the passing of time and the gradual joining of figures.

To match the delirious visuals is a fantastically diverse array of sound effects and music from composer Chu Ishikawa. Unending rain echoes in every scene and foreboding strings alternate the mood from morose to morbid, yet there's always a calming satisfaction from the violins. Percussive tribalistic music heavy with the sounds of clanging metal enhances the tense scenes of violence and operatic tones waft through the more surrealistic segments.

With disturbing imagery reminiscent of David Lynch's Eraserhead (but with more meaningful parallels and less unexplained randomness), A Snake of June is a brilliant examination of voyeurism, buried desires, and suppressed passion through the looking glass of a twisted genius. Tsukamoto again proves he is the master of the sadistically surreal and has long since passed his American counterparts in both style and presentation.

- Joel Massie