Sion Sono

Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono has been accused of multiple instances of sexual harassment.The director is best known for films such as Love Exposure and last year’s Nicolas Cage-starring English-language horror Prisoners of the Ghostland.A report in Japan’s Shukan Josei magazine features accounts from multiple female actors, who allege that the director offered them film roles in exchange for sex.The alleged behaviour was said to be linked to Sono’s acting workshops, reported Variety.The filmmaker has not yet responded to the allegations, though his forthcoming workshop has reportedly been cancelled. The Independent has contacted a representative of Sono for comment.Shukan Josei...

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Filmmaker Sion Sono has pushed the limits of what can be accomplished in genre films for decades, earning him not only a passionate following, but also leaving a mark on the memories of anyone who has seen one of his films. Even those who might not love all of his narratives surely remember them for quite some time, as the ambition of these narratives are only matched by his filmmaking sensibilities. Sono continues this trend with his latest film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, which marks his English-language debut. Prisoners of the Ghostland lands in theaters and on VOD, Digital HD, and DVD releasing September 17th.

Nicolas Cage described Prisoners of the Ghostland as “the wildest movie I’ve ever made.” Considering the actor’s list of genre credits, that’s an instant eyebrow-raising statement, and the plot description seems to back up that claim. Cage plays Hero, a robber sprung from jail and tasked with retrieving Bernice (Sofia...

Nicolas Cage’s acclaimed 2021 (see the raves for “Pig” this summer) continues into the fall with “Prisoners of the Ghostland,” which just released a bonkers first trailer that is sure to give Cage fans a run for their money. The latest film from subversive Japanese auteur Sion Sono, “Prisoners of the Ghostland” features Cage as a notorious bank robber enlisted by a wealthy warlord to help find his missing granddaughter in exchange for his freedom. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it was later acquired by RLJE Films. In his favorable Sundance review, IndieWire’s David...

Sion Sono, the visionary director behind boundary-breaking genre films like Love Exposure, Why Don’t You Play in Hell, and Tokyo Tribe, describes himself as something of an outsider in his home country of Japan. Sono, unlike many of his contemporaries, grew up on a diet of Hollywood action movies. So it was only a matter of time before he applied his bombastic-but-refined sensibilities to an English-language movie with close connections to his favorite films of the past. Which is how he wound up making a post-apocalyptic samurai Western with a star of equal, extreme caliber: Nicolas Cage.