The  final film by Nobuhiko Obayashi finds the late director returning to the  subject of Japan’s history of warfare following the completion of his  “War Trilogy,” which ended with Hanagatami. On the last night of its  existence, a small movie theater in Onomichi—the seaside town of  Obayashi’s youth where he shot nearly a dozen films—screens an all-night  marathon of Japanese war films. When lightning strikes the theater,  three young men are transported into the world onscreen where they  experience the violent battles of several wars leading up to the bombing  of Hiroshima.

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A breathless cinematic journey through Japan’s past, Labyrinth of Cinema finds  Obayashi using every trick in his book to create an awe-inspiring,  visually resplendent anti-war epic that urges us to consider cinema as a  means to change history. The culmination of an exceptional 60-year  career worth celebrating. Born in Hiroshima in 1938, Nobuhiko Obayashi  was a director, screenwriter and editor of films and television  advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese  experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream  media, and his resulting filmography as a director spanned almost 60  years. He was notable for his distinct surreal filmmaking style, as well  as the anti-war themes commonly embedded in his films. He died on 10  April 2020 at the age of 82, from lung cancer in Tokyo.