1 Acknowledgements Many, many thanks and love to my family and close friends for continued belief and unending support, thanks that I extend beyond the parameters of time spent on this book. Similarly heartfelt thanks to my colleagues at Film Studies and English at Edge Hill University – Dr. Jenny Barrett, Dr. Andrea Wright, Dr. Chris Auld, Dr. Jennifer Woodward, Dr. David Abel and Dr. Peter Wright - who I am proud and thankful to call my friends as well as (inspirational) co-workers and who have always been more than helpful and supportive. I must also mention and thank Steve Marsh, my partner in (cinema-going) crime for almost a lifetime and someone with whom I have spent literally countless hours, days, weeks and more discussing films and filmmakers, always illuminating, engaging and entertainingly so. Thanks and gratitude to Tom Mes at MidnightEye.com for his help and useful comments and feedback, and to the director Fujiwara Toshi, who has been very generous (both in person and as an interlocutor via email) with his time and replies to my questions and enquiries. My editors and contacts at EUP have been very helpful and supportive, and to my many students and Twitter friends who have provided numerous useful discussions I offer thanks. My gratitude also to the friends I made at Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield (both students and staff), whose help and friendship has always been valued.