Chain

Jem Cohen's nightmarish portrait of a deracinated world includes footage shot over 10 years in several countries but cut together so seamlessly that the film seems to unfold in a single, continuous strip of malls, hotels and airports. It's driven by two voice-overs and an aural montage of advertising jingles, road sounds, prerecorded telemarketing pitches and snippets of hymns. Tamiko (Miho Nikaido), a Japanese businesswoman in her early thirties, is part of a team working on a long-term project to export Japanese-style amusement parks to the rest of the world. Tamiko's job takes her to Canada and Eastern Europe, but mostly she crisscrosses America, researching trend...