9/10
Murder in mind
2 December 2009
"I'll never forgive you." "Who the Hell asked you to?" This has been dubbed the "greatest serial killer movie ever made". It's the true story of Iwaao Enokizu from as devout Catholic family who, while posing as a charming university lecturer, went on a 78-day slaughter spree in the 1960s before he was captured, unrepentant to the end. The murders are rendered with protracted verite - comparable to Kieslowski's Short Film About Killing - though are often so slapdash they can seem like the work of a deeply depressed Benny Hill sketch writer. And Vengeance... would be nothing more than a spreadsheet of bestial brutality were it not for Imamura's intelligent approach to its subject (think of this as a Japanese take on Camus' The Outsider) and willful cussedness, exposing a side of society the 'new Japan' would prefer to whitewash over.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed