Izo: The World Can Never Be Changed / Izo: Kaosu mataha fujori no kijin / Изо (2004)

Izo is one of the most difficult works of art to be made in recent times. Viewers complain that it’s overlong and incoherent—and, in their defense, it often feels designed that way. In scene after scene for more than two hours, a samurai finds himself in a strange new landscape, encounters some odd person or people, and then kills them with his sword. The film is pure theme and variation, deliberately lacking consistent rhythm or sense of progression that would allow you to enjoy it casually. Still, nearly every sequence boasts some fascinating juxtaposition—between character and decor, between dialogue and action, in the way images are ordered—that makes it consistently striking to watch, if something of a slog to keep up with. Even admirers say it seems to last for days.