Toyoda Toshiaki: "I'm Flash!" See this film at the Calgary International Film Festival...

Here's what I wrote for the 2012 Calgary International Film Festival: I’m Flash! – Toyoda Toshiaki Toyoda Toshiaki’s early films, Blue Spring and 9 Souls, rocked the world with his visual perspective and unflinching eye on Japanese society. Toyoda’s newest film, I’m Flash!, is the story of a charismatic cult leader paired up with three mismatched yakuza bodyguards. Having caused a tragic car accident that puts a young woman in a coma, the guru starts out on a path to salvation that begins with his intentions to leave his cult. His signature cinematography with spiraling images and emphasis on colors is perfectly evident here. In I’m Flash! Toyoda paints with indelible ink. Of particular importance here are the whites and the blues. There are several glowing blue visual images shot from beneath the sea as the cult leader is diving up to the shimmering surface and the white light of the sun. Where do we go when we die? The big questions of life are all answered in I’m Flash! Life is brief and life is beautiful. - Mike Skurko