Is there anything more gratifying than a sweepingly downcast story told in a uniquely exhilarating manner?

Tadanobu Asano, who plays the ex-con, has rarely been better, and Kanji Furutachi and Mariko Tsutsui are heartbreaking as the husband and wife.

The spare, humanist influence of Ozu is plain to see here, but Fukada's tone is all his own, simultaneously shot through with violence and compassion.

It’s the demons within that Kôji Fukada astutely brings to life in ‘Harmonium.