Looking for an Angel

2026 Subscribers: This is NOT included in your Subscription. If you'd like to purchase it, you will need to login to view your special 50% off SRP pricing. This special limited edition slipcover is limited to 1,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them. Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America. Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line! Mostly seen on the gay pink circuit and recently restored by its director to its rightful place in the Japanese arthouse canon, Akihiro Suzuki's debut takes the death of a young gay porn performer named Takachi as its starting point. Looking for an Angel follows Shinpei and Reiko as they process their friend’s disappearance, their memories coalescing into a bold exploration of grief set against the backdrop of a nostalgic, blue-hued city shot in a variety of filmic formats. As the viewer begins to piece together Takachi’s story, laden with desire for another boy named Sorao, between the cities of Tokyo and Kochi (“where the boys look like angels”), a powerful free-associative beauty emerges from a unique work described by Suzuki himself as “neither straight, gay, queer, bisexual, asexual or pornographic, but [rather] anti-heterosexist” — a film completely free of dogma and convention. “At the time, I felt a sense of rebellion against the heterosexual-dominated world, and wanted to portray sexuality and identity through an ambiguity that cannot be categorized,” says director Akihiro Suzuki. "I wanted to make a 35mm film like an 8mm film, mix various visual media, and include people of diverse sexualities around me in it.” — Akihiro Suzuki directed by: Akihiro Suzuki starring: Kōichi Imaizumi, Akira Suehiro, Hotaru Hazuki, Akira Kuroiwa, Kôichi Fujishima, Tho Ogura, Keiko Suzuki, Yusui Kawasaki, Hiroyuki Oki 1999 / 61 min / 1.85:1 / Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Additional info: Region A Blu-ray Interview with director Akihiro Suzuki Commentary track by Dakota Noot (co-host of Two in the Pinku podcast) Bonus feature: New scan of Angel's Body Temperature (2003, 82mins) Selected scenes commentary by Dakota Noot on Angel's Body Temperature Booklet with new writing by Elizabeth Purchell English SDH subtitles