Informal, often quite moving and poetic, Akihiro Suzuki's debut film recalls early NYC underground works in its portrait of youth subcultures, its mix of shooting stock (8mm, 16mm, and digital video), and especially its fixation on an informal sexual revolution with little interest in labels like straight, gay, or queer. As Suzuki himself describes it, "Looking for Angel is an anti-heterosexist movie." Shinpei is a small-town boy alone in Tokyo; he may be gay, maybe not, but lonely all the same. An invitation to a party/wake for a murdered porn actor named Takachi leads to memories of the man's life, a life like Shinpei's own: drifting, uncertain, sometimes happy, sometimes not, yet always looking for something angelic, for some moment of love. Casting nonprofessional actors from among his friends and acquaintances, Suzuki gives his film a simplicity and charm that's usually missing from twee youth culture pieces-a triumph partly due to his remarkably sophisticated, sincere presentation of youthful uncertainty, sexuality, and grief.-Jason Sanders