If it is all a little like an arty novelette, there's no doubt it is a feast for the eye.

Ninagawa, like Sophia Coppola in Marie Antoinette, brings to a traditional story a keen compositional flair and a love of bright colours, as well as deploying a lively, jazzy soundtrack.

As the story progresses, it settles into something more traditionally sorrowful, but not before it has delivered a blast of energy.

A film like SAKURAN feels rebellious because of the way the script and direction center its protagonist and her needs over those of the voyeuristic audience ...