VividSimon Simply Perfect

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. Studio Director Shouhei Imamura delivers a gruesome tale about the product of a dysfunctional family who ends up as a remorseless killer (as well as an accomplished minor con artist). This Shochiku programmer is apparently based on a documentary-style book which, in turn, is based on actual events. The photo play tries to embrace and regurgitate both data sources which results in a schizophrenic movie that suffers from excessive "ancestor worship." Initially, the Director tries combining flashbacks with documentary-style filming (which never play well together), but quickly abandons this approach (much to the viewer's relief who would otherwise need a spreadsheet to keep track of things!). Early murder scenes are unintentionally hilarious, as characters just plain refuse to die despite receiving multiple fatal wounds. In between later murders, the killer freely roams city streets undisguised (except for sunglasses) when wanted posters are literally plastered everywhere! (A death wish; a plea for help; or just a dumb screen script?) Actors and actresses lack on-screen chemistry. Rather than forming an ensemble, each seems to be waiting to deliver lines instead of listening and reacting to the dialog of others. The lead actor does not seem to be in his element when playing a murderer, but, instead, when playing a chameleon-like swindler who can change modes of deception on the fly! Nude scenes and gratuitous simulated sex are inserted here and there to spice things up (and boost juvenile audience appeal). Cinematography (semi wide screen, color) is good except for the closing scenes (see below). Restoration is very good. Subtitles for opening credits are near-white letters on top of white Japanese characters making them challenging/impossible to read. Dialog subtitles are sometimes too long given their screen flash rates. Yup, the English title (widely used) for this movie does not fit, but it is catchy. The ending is just plain weird (and seems to be tacked on as well as poorly executed and photographed). But, then again, there could be a message hidden in there--somewhere! Not recommended (unless you first park your brain beside your disc player). WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

edumacated this film is half delicious--half not.the first half is a seemingly clumsy attempt to narrate the initial crimes of the featured psychopath. the narrative moves quickly through his initial murders using a workmanlike exposition, it shows this man's growing proficiency in the art of quick killing. and that is the first part of the film.the director manufactured a clinical approach to the first half, as shown by his use of clinical titles--suggesting a police report--summing up the effects of the psychopath's murders with little or no lead to the killings.this is the clumsy part of this film, unfortunately the director did not have the luxury of cloning future Hollywood examples to give him a better formula for this type of narration.but the second half of the film is where the director shows the relationship that intrigues him.the second part is enigmatic. it posits the ultimate relations when average persons attempt an average relationship with a homicidal psychopath. and this part is enthralling. the tension is beyond.

Graham Greene Vengeance is Mine (1979) is a truly powerful film; an elliptical reconstruction/personal examination into the criminal mind, presenting a number of potential questions as to why this character became the person that he did, but offering us nothing in the way of easy answers. It is anchored by the central performance of Ken Ogata as Iwao Enokizu, a thirty-something tearaway and con artist who one day murders two men, seemingly for financial benefit, and in the process, triggers one of the largest and most infamous manhunts in Japanese history. Whereas the story presents numerous avenues of thought and situations that recall the very best of Hollywood serial killer films, crime fiction or the cinema of investigation, the film refuses to conform to any of this; giving us a juxtaposing mood wherein elements of documentary-like realism are cross-cut with a more enigmatic element of self-reflection, memory and examination.Given this particular presentation, Vengeance is Mine can be seen as something of a difficult film; employing a fractured timeline that takes in thirty years of Iwao's family history, as well as offering us a central narrative perspective that seems to have been woven together from a number of different, highly conflicting viewpoints. Illustrating this device, director Imamura begins the film with the capture of Iwao and his transportation back to police HQ. From here, we cut to the police inspectors interrogating the murderer, who taunts them with his flippant behaviour, uncooperative attitude and provocative questioning before a chain of events begins to form. Here, Imamura juggles the narrative perspective of Iwao with that of the police, so that we are never quite sure if what we're seeing is a recreation of police evidence or the word of a man that we cannot really trust. As the film progresses, other characters will be introduced, and all of them will in some way contribute towards fleshing out the story in such a way that continues this idea of a patchwork narrative, or conversely, what film critic Tony Rayns refers to as "the lines of thought".The effect that Imamura's structure has on us is at times staggering; cutting to a scene of spiralling family turmoil in between moments of murder and seduction, in a way that both disarms and distracts us; forcing us to ask questions and connect the dots as it were to try and pin point Iwao's exact reason for this misanthropic violence and rage. Later in the film, more surreal and enigmatic moments will be added to offer further shades of reference, accumulating as we crawl closer and closer to a final that we hope will tie these issues together, but instead, leaves us with even more questions pertaining to the complex ideas regarding love, honour, family, faith, society, spirituality, regret, rage, murder, life and death. This presents a stark irony to the film. Whereas the structure of the script and the presentation of the characters and narrative are incredibly complicated and vague, Imamura's direction is subtle and as light as a feather.Perhaps drawing somewhat on his past work in documentary-directing, the style of Vengeance is Mine has an uncomplicated minimalism and sense of urgency. Imamura makes great use of cramped, claustrophobic interiors, from the police car in the opening sequence, to the interrogation scenes, to the sequences between Iwao and the owner of a hotel where he later hides out. He also captures the spirit of 60's Japan, moving from the small islands and villages with their old ways and traditional values, to the bright lights of the city and a beguiling underworld of crime and prostitution. Much of the film is shot in a very light, cinéma-vérité style with hand-held cameras or locked off shots framed through windows and doorways, with the use of extensive on-screen inter-titles to announce the names of victims, the date and times of death, and the choice of murder weapon. Again, this appropriation of style and the emphasis on examination and a certain presentation of reality in all its sordid detail is very much keeping with Imamura's previous documentary work, and the lurid, real-life aspect of Iwao Enokizu's unprovoked double-murder, and the gruelling 78 day manhunt that followed.In keeping with this uncomplicated visual approach, the violence of Vengeance is Mine is stark, uncompromising and brutal. As ferocious and provocative as the central performance from Ken Ogata and as cold and unsympathetic as the murders in Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing (1988). Given Iwao's character, and Imamura' refusal to take sides regarding these complicated issues - presenting the drama from a distance and allowing the audience the opportunity to make up their own mind regarding the various rights and wrongs - Vengeance is Mine will definitely be a difficult work for many viewers. Iwao is such an unlikable and unsympathetic character and yet, we watch the film unfold through his eyes and share in his thoughts, feelings, lies and disappointments. The title is also misleading and vague; tapping into the ideas of Catholicism central to the plot but in no way representing the view point of any of these characters.Ultimately, Vengeance is Mine requires thought and consideration on the part of the audience to pick apart the various sub textual ideas presented by the narrative and the matter of fact way in which the direction comments on them. There are clear ideas of family, with the relationship between husband and wife, father and son, mother and son all driving Iwao to commit these crimes and show no sympathy, as well as cultural and spiritual taboos central to the Japanese culture of the post war era. The highly enigmatic ending also adds further shades that require personal interpretation, with the last five minutes presenting something vaguely surreal and undoubtedly thought provoking. Vengeance is Mine is a bold and provocative work that forces the viewer to ask some serious questions, with no guarantee of any easy answers, and remains a powerful and uncompromising work of intelligent cinema.

GyatsoLa Nasty, but fascinating account based on the true story of a deeply disturbed serial killer in early 1960's Japan. But this is very different from most movies of the genre in that it gives no neat psychological explanations of why he kills, or indeed gives any particular moral overview. It has a complex structure starting at his capture and working back and forth from there to his childhood and his murders. Its not an easy film to watch in many ways, but via an excellent central performance it manages to convey the complexity of the killer and the people he meets, including the women who (sometimes) love him, without ever taking an easy narrative or moral option. Perhaps the nearest equivalent movie I can think of is the more recent Korean 'Memories of Murder' which likewise breaks the 'rules' set by western serial killer movies, and as such are far more informative and interesting.