Duo ming jie chu

"Fatal Encounter" is a real downer--it's sobering, dramatic, and disturbing. But it is a downer. One fateful night, a Japanese father has sex with a prostitute, unaware that she has AIDS, and the proceeding downward spiral as he infects his infant son with the disease. Aside from a few unnecessary melodramatic touches, the film is well-done, especially in how it establishes the father and the prostitute as three-dimensional characters. In a way, we sympathize with them both, even though their lack of judgment renders them unlikable at times. Some cheesy musical interludes detract from the reality feel of the film, and the version I got had extremely awful sound quality (it sounded like two people were talking for every single person) and subtitles that were difficult to read at times.

6/10