Suspect X

'Yougisha X no Kenshin' is battle of wits between the physicist "Galileo" Yukawa (Fukuyama Masaharu) and his university friend and genius mathematician Ishigami (Tsutsumi Shinichi). The first 10 minutes of this film was just like the TV dorama series, light comedy filled with physics jargon, but it soon turns into a completely different, stand-alone movie. This movie and Galileo dorama are both based on the same mystery novel series, but this movie was more of a suspense movie with a touch of human drama because it was very clear from beginning who the culprits were.

The movie was surprisingly well-directed for a dorama director. There were many epic, well-executed slow motion scenes, and somehow he completely removed dorama cheesiness for majority of the play time.

Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou's acting were sub-par, but the "supporting" actors Tsutsumi Shinichi and Matsuyuki Yasuko were INCREDIBLE. I have already seen couple of similar characters Tsutsumi played in his long dorama career, but I was surprised how perfect he was for this role and made me sympathize with his character even though he played a bad guy. Matsushima Yasuko was solid as usual, though she over-acted in couple of places. Still, she depicted her character well. Tsutsumi Shinichi and Matsushima Yasuko were credited with supporting actor/actress in this film, but they each got almost as much screen-time as Fukuyama Masaharu, and I don't think it can be disputed that those two were the de-facto leading actor and actress in this movie. Shibasaki Kou is one of my favorite actresses, but she was a non-factor in terms of both screen presence and acting quality.

Although I liked the comedy in the dorama series, I'm glad they changed the style for this movie. The plot involved very little physics and mathematics, but focused on the human side of the guest characters: What was the motivation for Suspect X's involvement? The meaning of the title "Devotion of Suspect X", devotion indeed. This is one of those movies that sinks in a while after the ending credits.

There is a metaphor I really liked in this film. "Is it harder to create a question no one can solve, or solve that unsolvable question?" This reminded me of the word origin "mujun" (contradiction) in Japanese, which writes "Spear-Shield" in kanji. It's an imported Chinese word derived from an ancient philosophical text where a salesman was selling a "spear that can break through any shields" and a "shield that can defend against any spear", but was dumbfounded when someone asked him what happens if he used the spear on the shield. A truly clever metaphor it is!

I really connected with Tsutsumi and Matsuyuki's characters, and although I didn't cry while watching this movie, I heard couple of other audience in the theater crying. 'Yougisha X' movie is a very serious and deep movie in contrast to the dorama, and I have enjoyed every moment of it.

This film made me an instant fan of the actor who played Suspect X-his name escaped me at first, but his performance left a strong impression. The real strength of this movie lies in its source material: a brilliantly crafted Keigo Higashino mystery. Many suspense novels are too intricate to adapt smoothly into film, leaving audiences lost, but this story relies on a relatively simple trick. Viewers can actually follow along and even solve it as they watch, which makes the suspense so engaging.

The human drama is also well handled. Higashino's works often focus heavily on family issues, but here that element is restrained, allowing the relationships between the culprit and the heroine, and between the culprit and the detective, to shine.

Higashino has written many outstanding works. With the right production and international push, they could become a catalyst for Japanese cinema to gain worldwide recognition. While Japan is often labeled an "anime nation" or "manga nation," popularity alone doesn't equal depth. True narrative depth lies in Japanese mystery fiction. Especially between 1980 and 2010, Japan produced many of the finest mysteries in the world. Yet, it seems Japanese film companies have no intention of using this strength to break onto the global stage-and that is truly unfortunate.

I am not a big fan of movies which are based on books. Just look at what they did with Harry Potter and others (LOTR is an exception). So I wasn't much excited when my friend told me it was based on a book and I tried not to watch it. He practically had to make me sit through the first 15 minutes of the movie to make sure I was intrigued. Well, I am glad he made me watch it because Suspect X is one the best mystery thriller movies I've watched in the last couple of years.

Suspect X is a story of a murdered husband, a wife, a daughter and two geniuses. Manabu Yukawa is a scientist who helps out the police once in a while. And Tetsuya Ishigami is Mathematician who lives next door to the wife of the murdered man. Both have their reasons to be involved. The story is written tightly. The cinematography is hauntingly beautiful.

The strongest point of the movie is the interactions of the two geniuses. When they are there talking, you don't want to miss a second of their conversation. They are not conniving and trying to out do each other. They are just old friends talking. And that's what makes this movie so special.

I highly recommend it to those who love Hitchcock movies.

Note: I don't know Japanese and watched this movie with English Subtitles. It in no way affected the mood of the movie.

I'll just join in with the many (well, most of the 14 now listed) excellent reviews of this wonderfully made film. No need to go into a lot of detail here. Acting: Amazingly powerful. Writing and Direction: Perfect.

Normally, I don't get too carried away with more Drama heavy films, usually because either they are not very good or these elements are way overdone. Not here... Whomever the Director is, he not only guided the story in a very deft and effective way, but he also elicited the best performances by all involved. Quite a feat... Whenever I take the time actually to write a review here, I normally try to stress or emphasize however well made a movie is. That, to me personally regardless of Genre, is what really carries the most weight. And, this one, let me tell you, was done very, very well.

If you enjoy movies of high quality that really involve the audience, then I think there is a good chance you will like this film.

I first saw this in 2010. Revisited it recently. Some movies indeed deserves a second viewing before being reviewed.

Suspect X is the first of several film adaptations of the novel The Devotion of Suspect X.

This is the Japanese version n has some amazing performances by the actors. I ain't aware of the names but really terrific performances.

I loved the opening scene where a physicist solves a crime via the explanation of physics.

The plot - Yasuko Hanaoka, a recently divorced, single mother owns a restaurant and she has a regular customer, Tetsuya Ishigami, her next door neighbor, a tad reclusive, but brilliant mathematics teacher.

Buying lunches from Yasuko's restaurant is the brightest part of Tetsuya's day.

Things take a sudden change when Yasuko's abusive ex-husband shows up one night to extort money from Yasuko but is killed by Yasuko and her daughter.

The acting n cinematography is top notch but the editing is not upto mark. There r scenes which are very slow n not required.

I didn't like the ending.