X
  • 2018
  • Unrated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2018
  • Unrated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 32 m

Summary Caniba reflects on the discomfiting significance of cannibalistic desire in human existence through the prism of one Japanese man, Issei Sagawa, and his mysterious relationship with his brother, Jun Sagawa. As a 32-year-old student at the Sorbonne in Paris, Issei Sagawa was arrested on June 13, 1981 when spotted emptying two bloody suitc...

Directed By: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

  • 2018
  • Unrated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2018
  • Unrated
  • Grasshopper Film
  • 1 h 32 m

Caniba

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
61
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary Caniba reflects on the discomfiting significance of cannibalistic desire in human existence through the prism of one Japanese man, Issei Sagawa, and his mysterious relationship with his brother, Jun Sagawa. As a 32-year-old student at the Sorbonne in Paris, Issei Sagawa was arrested on June 13, 1981 when spotted emptying two bloody suitc...

Directed By: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
61
33% Positive
3 Reviews
67% Mixed
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 9 Critic Reviews
61
33% Positive
3 Reviews
67% Mixed
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Oct 18, 2018
Caniba offers no trite explanations or condemnations of Sagawa. Instead, we are offered a small window into his reality.
By Christopher Machell FULL REVIEW
80
Oct 18, 2018
Rather than sensationalizing their subject, Paravel and Castaing-Taylor never forget that Issei, while clearly troubled or ill or both, is still a human being, too. It is a testament to the talent of the directors, who also shot and edited the film, that such a complex moral stance rises organically from their material.
By Boyd van Hoeij FULL REVIEW
60
Oct 18, 2018
How illuminating or challenging Caniba proves for viewers will depend on their amenability to Paravel and Castaing-Taylor’s amoral stance and literally up-in-your-face technique. Those who aren’t provoked by its ambiguous psychological inquiry, however, may wish for a bigger human picture from this relentlessly close-up exercise.
By Guy Lodge FULL REVIEW
58
Oct 22, 2018
Certainly, viewers may feel a kind of seasickness, their stomachs doing somersaults during this supremely discomfiting movie.
By A.A. Dowd FULL REVIEW
58
Oct 18, 2018
As disturbing as the film can be, at the end of the day one doesn’t really take much away from it.
By Ethan Vestby FULL REVIEW
50
Oct 18, 2018
Camera style aside, the subject matter of Sagawa’s atrocious crimes are pretty fascinating. But it’s the pace and moments of complete dead silence that kills (no pun intended) the tension you would think would be obvious when making a documentary about a living cannibal.
By Dante James FULL REVIEW
40
Oct 18, 2018
The filmmakers, who made “Leviathan,” the striking 2012 immersion into commercial fishing, seem to be arguing that Sagawa needs to be understood beyond moralistic preconceptions. Caniba did not make the case for me. I consider Sagawa repellent, and the movie an exercise in intellectualized scab-picking.
By Glenn Kenny FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company Norte Productions, Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL), Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), Cinéventure 3, Sundance Institute, Elle Driver
Release Date Oct 19, 2018
Duration 1 h 32 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Website https://caniba-film.com/
View All Details

Awards

Venice Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Munich International Documentary Festival (DOK.fest)
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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