In February 2014, the deaf composer Samuragochi, once dubbed Japan’s Beethoven, publicly confessed that another composer had been helping him write his music. The confession was provoked by a magazine exposé by the shadow composer Niigaki. Niigaki claimed that Samuragochi did not write his own symphonies, nor was he deaf. Upon hearing of the scandal, filmmaker Tatsuya Mori picks up his camera and visits the residence of Samuragochi, now vilified by the whole nation while Niigaki was celebrated on TV. Mori films Samuragochi, as television producers visit and a foreign journalist interviews to find out the truth about his deafness and ability to compose music. The film makes us listen carefully and question the growing doubt in Samuragochi’s words. It also makes us reflect on the media consumption that recklessly idolized a man as a star, and the sensationalism that instigates an endless spread of scandal. (Minah JEONG)