Kōji Yamamura‘s DOZENS OF NORTHS is a masterpiece that is several decades from when it should have come out. This glorious animated film should have come out in the 1970’s and 80’s when it’s dream like imagery would have made it a midnight movie favorite. Yea back then it was Rocky Horror, Eraserhead, Pink Flamingos and others like Fantastic Planet. Now imagine Eraserhead spawning with Fantastic Planet and you have a vague idea of what this is. ...
»Unseen Films | Dozens of Norths (2021) | Steve Kopian | 2023.03.26 |
... "Alice in Winterland" is a fascinating worldview that can only be achieved with images. ...
...Above all, I hope that these films will be screened at cinema complexes throughout Japan as true "entertainment" that enlightens the viewer's consciousness. ...
»Kinema-jyunpo" Early March 2023 No.1916 | Caricature Diary 185 All genres are closely intertwined technically | Tatsuya Masutou | 2023.02.20 | Japan
... Yamamura seems to paint a gigantic cosmic freezeframe of suffering, where the more impotent the animation is, the more emergent will be result.
...In his filmic journey Yamamura offers up to us a Boschian anatomy of dreams, where the obsessive elements are able to create an iconic language that, in a little over one hour, we will be able to read.
»FILMEXPLORER | Text: Giuseppe Di Salvatore | 10 September, 2022 | Switzerland
Another special mention went to Japanese star Koji Yamamura's first feature film (short, though, only an hour of time), Dozens of Norths (Ikuta no kita). And it, it must be said, made an utterly mesmerizing impression. The first thing that fascinated me was Yamamura's fantastic, subtle graphics, not unlike his most recent films, which were both surreal and absurd, or rather the movement of the film itself was absurd. …
Big Cartoon Festival Blog | »Zagreb Festival 2022 Part 1 Winners | Dina Goder | July 2022 | Russia
...Dozens of Norths is an especially recommendable proposal for those who conceive animation as an essentially plastic art, for those who are more interested in aesthetics than in history in the conventional sense of the term. Precisely for this reason it will appeal, above all, to viewers interested in experimental proposals that blur the border between cinema and other arts such as painting or music. In fact, perhaps it will be more appreciated if, in the style of the so-called musical compositions, it is analyzed as an audiovisual suite.
»2021: Dozens of Norths (Ikuta no kita) | Animation for Adults | Ray Laguna | 2022 | Spain
"Avec ses paysages pétrifiés ou endormis peuplés de figures tantôt reconnaissables, tantôt chimériques, ses mouvements minimalistes, ses lents travellings sur de vastes compositions crayonnées, avec, pour seules paroles, des cartons à la façon du cinéma muet, le premier long métrage de Yamamura Kôji déroute et fascine. "...
»"BLINK BLANK # 5" | FILMS & SÉRIES Pléthore de nords Yamamura Kôji "Dans les limbes de l’imaginaire" | Jacques Kermabon | 2022.04 | France
Jury Comment:
»Special Jury Award for the Feature Films | 8th New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival | 8 November 2021
Nejimura89 | Note |
»Film review of the fastest film ever made, "TDozens og Norths!2 Maybe this is what an "unprecedented" feature film is all about. ......! | 2021.11.23 | Japan
"The long-awaited first feature from a legend of Japanese animation, this trip through the darkest places on earth more than meets expectation. ...
It feels purposefully like a dream, showing an author falling asleep and two smaller men walking away with his quill like arctic explorers. These are the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the piece, guiding us through a hellish landscape that feels inspired by both Dante and Kafka in its depiction of sadness and depravity. ...
The result is one of the boldest animated features I’ve seen in a while, a journey through an animation world worthy of inclusion alongside the likes of Pixar, Hertzfeld and Miyazaki. "
Redmond Bacon | DMovies |
»Dozens of Norths (Ikuta no Kita) | 22 December 2021
" ...the incredible harmony between the animation and the music will make it impossible to imagine any other symbiosis. “Dozens of Norths” is done in the spirit of silent movies, and when Breukner’s tunes are gone, it’s the impeccable sound design by Koji Kasamatsu that takes over with the sound of chilly winds, rusty machines and breaking waves adding to the feeling of deep void and solitude.
...The film doesn’t have a clear plot, just like a dream. What it does have is a magical atmosphere, with every detail executed by Yamamura’s skillful hand. It’s a gem that won’t click with everyone because it requires passion for arthouse animation and concentration."
Marina D. Richter | Asian Movie Pules |
»Film Review: Dozens of Norths (2021) by Koji Yamamura | 22 December 2021
Doi Nobuaki | Media Arts Current Contents |
»Feature Length Animation as an Experimental Site, Dully Glowing in the Corona Disaster | 2021.10.25 | Japan
Focusing the details accurately with a rhythm that matches perfectly but shifting into a bird's-eye view makes the viewers lose what happened just a moment ago. Many feature-length animations are based on detailed episodes centered around a solid story and these details make a whole story dense. What happened in this film is the opposite: the details seem to be connected somewhere, but it is possible that they don't have any connections. It makes me feel fun, and I would not be the only one. The high-impact visual that changes in a blink of an eye with some uncanny and humorous melody keeps attracting our eyes. The challenge of deviating from the story, which should be an important element of feature films, makes this film innovative.
»Animation Division Excellence Award | 25th Japan Media Arts Festival | March 2022
