Long a devoted chronicler of the grimier side of life, Eiji Uchida attained a measure of mainstream respectability earlier this year when his transgender drama, “Midnight Swan,” won the Japan Academy Prize for best picture. As if to deflate any lofty expectations this might encourage, his follow-up is bypassing theaters altogether, in favor of an on-demand release via Amazon Prime Video.
Streaming feels like the right route for “Shrieking in the Rain,” an ensemble comedy-drama that’s as frothy and forgettable as a Christmas TV special. The subject matter also lends itself to home viewing, this being an ode to the kinds of movies that flourished during the heyday of video rentals.
The year is 1988, and the setting is an anonymous studio lot, where first-time director Hanako Hayashi (Marika Matsumoto) is trying to complete her debut feature. When we first meet her, she’s locked herself in a producer’s car to escape the crisis brewing around her. The shoot is running way behind schedule, and she’s lost the trust of her crew, a bunch of veterans whose creative input tends to come spiced with a generous dose of sexism.