In the first few minutes of the film Tao Kato does the "Strip Rape and Strangle" at courtesy of Cannibal Corpse. We have a depraved character who strips a sex worker naked whilst she's unconscious, strangled by a telephone cord and only to have her have resuscitate to get the names of other women involved in a rape and suicide of a 16-year-old delivery boy. Makoto Sat plays Kawashima, a protagonist in an bloody psychological conflict which starts a chain of murders set against the backdrop of a Post-war Tokyo. As the story unfolds you might feel the film is simple and linear with things of everyday life in the background. But let me to tell you, in principle, this is not a minus as it adds to the atmosphere of the film. Kato spuns a character study of a serial killer pushing the central thought through the rest of the films events. There are moment in the film especially in the climax that Kato has taken few liberties with his experimental style, you'll see an amalgam of avant-garde shots, close ups and the low angle impulses working in tandem. The final scene when Kawashima realised "The cycle of divine punishment must be fulfilled' as it comes in full circle fits perfectly to the finale
Master Yoji Yamada best known for Tora-San (Otoko wa Tsurai yo) series, The Twilight Samurai (2002), A Trap (1965) and one of my favourite The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) contributed to the writing Yamadas regular Chieko Baisho is Haruko, a women working in a ramen shop battling her own past and gets along with Kawashima. They meet at a hilltop by moonlight, the atmosphere cracks of mist and only glimmers of hope left is the presence of both in an otherwise gloomy landscape. It is an important setup to watch out as the film closes in the same spot. Coming to the score Legendary Hajime Kaburagi does a incredible job in setting a tone as it tend to blur into one mood music albeit like a psychedelic burnout really good at places.
With so many Japanese industry heavyweights part of 'I The Executioner or Requiem For a Massacre" director Kato artfully hews an adaptation of a story by Hiromi Tadashi and subverts serial killer genre conventions and challenges our attitudes with something different from the usual. In this age of 'woke climate' where anything or everything pisses off some or the other, it is a daring feat that Kato tried something like this. A topic of sexual abuse against men have a negative connotation while the statistics show that rape as a crime is solely committed against women. He doesn't go into the policing or validation point or attacking the government for its gender neutrality. This is not everyone's cup of tea remember this film is an examination of a serial killer, partly a look at the misogyny which still exists today and partly a twisted revenge tale .For many the misogyny part will ruins the hell out of this movie but i assure it is more than that if viewed with an open mind.
Master Yoji Yamada best known for Tora-San (Otoko wa Tsurai yo) series, The Twilight Samurai (2002), A Trap (1965) and one of my favourite The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) contributed to the writing Yamadas regular Chieko Baisho is Haruko, a women working in a ramen shop battling her own past and gets along with Kawashima. They meet at a hilltop by moonlight, the atmosphere cracks of mist and only glimmers of hope left is the presence of both in an otherwise gloomy landscape. It is an important setup to watch out as the film closes in the same spot. Coming to the score Legendary Hajime Kaburagi does a incredible job in setting a tone as it tend to blur into one mood music albeit like a psychedelic burnout really good at places.
With so many Japanese industry heavyweights part of 'I The Executioner or Requiem For a Massacre" director Kato artfully hews an adaptation of a story by Hiromi Tadashi and subverts serial killer genre conventions and challenges our attitudes with something different from the usual. In this age of 'woke climate' where anything or everything pisses off some or the other, it is a daring feat that Kato tried something like this. A topic of sexual abuse against men have a negative connotation while the statistics show that rape as a crime is solely committed against women. He doesn't go into the policing or validation point or attacking the government for its gender neutrality. This is not everyone's cup of tea remember this film is an examination of a serial killer, partly a look at the misogyny which still exists today and partly a twisted revenge tale .For many the misogyny part will ruins the hell out of this movie but i assure it is more than that if viewed with an open mind.