The Cinematheque

“At once real and surreal … The ultimate teen movie for any student who’s ever suspected their place of education has been infiltrated by fascists.”

Hayley Scanlon, Windows on Worlds

A popular idol film and an artistic cri de coeur all in one, Obayashi Nobuhiko’s School in the Crosshairs posits education—like only he could—as a societal microcosm, a magical space-to-earth portal, and a melodramatic bildungsroman. Yakushimaru Hiroko (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) plays Yuka, who discovers that she has the unasked-for gift of psychic powers. ​“Studying is like warfare,” as one character puts it; the question of against whom is answered when a new administrative group of domineering students descends upon Yuka’s home campus. The seemingly contained arena of a kendo tournament becomes an Olympian duel of the gods where the stakes evolve from petty rivalry to the limits of reality, yet the film never entirely departs from the charming bedroom-pop tone of the film’s fantastic opening credits song (“You Don’t Have to Worry”). Even when making a purely entertaining youth film, Obayashi never treats his subject matter—or his film craft—as something disposable.

In Japanese with English subtitles

“Obayashi has the rare gift of making even high-concept works seem personal … The last 30 minutes of [School in the Crosshairs] contains some of his most memorably surreal imagery.”

Hal Young, Senses of Cinema

“House initiates will be just about the only people prepared for Obayashi’s School in the Crosshairs, a dizzying sci-fi movie exemplary of the genre master’s filmmaking.”

Jeva Lange, Screen Slate