Shell and Joint

What do plush cockroaches dream about? Do shrimp feel sexual arousal? Is there love after death? In this polyphonic tale of love, death, and nature, the paths of all the protagonists cross at a capsule hotel. A couple of friends work at the reception desk: Nitobe, a philosophical erotomaniac, and Sakamoto, a woman fixated on suicide. The former is obsessed with shellfish, while the latter is convinced that suicidal thoughts are caused by bacteria in the brain. Their conversations and the rhythm of issuing cards for the capsule rooms create the framework for a series of sad, funny stories as well as some fantastic dance scenes. Shell and Joint is the long-awaited full-length debut from Isamu Hirabayashi, one of Japan’s most original video artists. A film in the form of a puzzle that explores how men and women perceive one another, relationships, life, death, and existential fears. The world of animals is used as a leitmotif and as a sort of mirror of human behavior. Not the cuddly, sweet, furry kind, but less anthropomorphic species equipped with grinding claws and hard shells.