Retribution

I saw this movie at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The movie was announced as being "horror for those who did not like horror". I was afraid it would be a typical Japanese horror, with creepy sounds, dark colors and mean ghosts. Now, there was a ghost and annoying sounds (the title in Japanese means "the scream"). But there was more.

The main character is a detective, who investigates murders in Tokyo. It seems like there is a serial killer out, because the murders have the same method of killing. But then he gets haunted by what seems to be the first victim.

The movie evolves from solving a crime and catching a murderer to a search for mysterious connections. It may not all seem to make sense, there is an explanation in the end. Maybe not satisfying enough for some, but I don't think the explanation is the whole point of the movie.

There remains a vibe of mystery. If you come in expecting a typical American horror, you surely will be disappointed. But if you like some dark, Japanese mystery, including some scares, you will certainly enjoy this one.

This really is another masterpiece in a gathering of work that puts so many American mainstream horror directors to shame.

A rich tale of longing and unrequited desire, summed in an intensely satisfying, and beautiful prose. Delicate, yet overwhelming at times. Smart and distracting, like the written lines of Haruki Murakami, filled with lynchesque overtones. It reminded me of Miike doing Izo, in its expertise in skipping genre and time planes to find its core story. I loved this movie. I know it is clique, but I laughed, I cried. I jumped out of the seat of my pants!!!

For a lover of Kurosawa, this is a must!

(2006) Retribution (In Japanese with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR/ SOCIAL COMMENTARY

Another subtle masterpiece from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Pulse) and definitely not for the simple minded which is the alternate and the Japanese equivalent of "The Sixth Sense" showcasing at the beginning of an unknown person drowning a girl to death in a puddle of salted water. Then the next scene shows a police detective Kôji Yakusho as the unshaven Noboru coming out of a hangover and conversing with his girlfriend whose assigned to the case of the drowned girl and begins to find materialistic things linking him to the murder itself. At the same time a ghostly image of the drowned girl consistently appears haunting him like he was the one that did it. To say anymore would ruin it's subtle social commentary message about 'owning up a crime and then act like it never happened at all'! There is hardly any blood but a lot of unexplainable things which would be answered toward the end. I might've enjoyed this film had it been a lot longer than it's current running time of 103 minutes.

Kyoshi Kurosawa is a talented but maybe too prolific director. Since the early 90's, he had almost directed 30 movies. No wonder that, when Takashige Ichise, the master producer of J-Horror ("Ring", "The Grudge") asks him to direct one of the Jap-Horror trilogy movie along with Hideo Nakata and Shimizu, you get a little feeling of "Déjà-vu" in front of his new movie : "Sakebi" (Retribution).

Of course, there's still lots of excellent ideas in the movie, and some parts are majestically directed : all the ghosts apparitions are really beautiful, and the movie take there and then an experimental approach in their representation. It almost looks like a modern art installation. Some shots are also really well thought, as the one of the interrogation of a suspect, filmed in continuation, with the help of a mirror in the back in order to create a double space. But the most original aspect of the movie is the depiction of the modern Tokyo, witch doesn't look modern at all. In the movie, the city looks like a post-war town, everything is rotten and lugubre, there's nobody in the dark streets. You don't often see such a representation of Japan, far from the clichés of the ultra-modern society it's supposed to be.

But the problem is that all this was ultimately in others Kurosawa's movies, as if he wanted to offer a sort of best-of his previous works here. His style haven't change, and the story isn't really surprising for any "Kaïro"'s spectator. This lack of surprise leads to a feeling of boringness, and I couldn't get out of my mind, after the movie, the idea that it was clearly unoriginal (for a Kurosawa's movie, of course) and a little bit too long (maybe cutting 20 minutes of the movie would have been a good thing).

But all in all, this movie is a good introduction to his tormented universe, and for those who already know it, well, a new Kyoshi Kurosawa's movie certainly comes out in 3 months.

You know you're getting something special and unusual when watching a Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie. Reason why I often like his movies so much is because they always start of as something formulaic and you're sure the movie will be heading in a certain direction but then suddenly it will completely turn around and the movie and its story start taking an unexpected approach.

The movie pretty much starts off as a thriller, in which the police is hunting down a supposed serial killer. But it soon starts to become apparent that there actually is far more going on and the movie takes a more horror-like turn.

But please don't watch this movie expecting a typical Japanese horror flick, with scare moments and such. This movie is anything but typical and it's just not really a straight-forward horror flick. It's more subtle and clever with its story and build-up. Some people might find it too slow but those were probably expecting this movie to be a more typical Japanese horror flick.

It's really a movie that is heavy on its build-up. It can definitely get hard to follow and understand at times but this is basically always the case with a Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie. They allow you to think and interpret certain scenes and moments in your own way. Lots is always being left up to your own interpretation, so also don't expect the movie to just hand you all of the questions or to give a clear explanation of everything at the end.

It's really a very well directed movie, that also focuses heavily on its visuals. It's a real fine looking movie, with nice cinematography and some great settings got picked, for the movie its story. Kiyoshi Kurosawa is also an horror director who often uses special effects for his movies. It's always very well incorporated into his films and all serves a purpose within the style and story of the movies, as is also the case with this movie.

Really a movie you have to experience for yourself.

8/10

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