Inju, la bestia en la sombra

Aside from Reversal of Fortune and Single White Female, Barbet Schroeder is probably best known for the two documentaries he made about two controversial figures like Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and French lawyer Jacques Vergès, aka Terror's Advocate. His latest fiction work, Inju, continues in that direction by dealing with another mysterious, possibly evil man.

The man in question is Shundei Oe, a reclusive Japanese writer who has never let anyone see his face, and unlike, say, Terrence Malick, he doesn't even allow his picture to circulate: the only clue readers have as to what he looks like is a disturbing self-portrait (think David Carradine in Kill Bill with a skin disease) he puts on the back cover of his novels, morbid thrillers where evil always prevails. Oe is the subject of the studies of Alex Fayard (Benoit Magimel), a French college lecturer who believes the atrocities in those books reflect the author's own deranged fantasies. When Fayard goes to Kyoto to promote a book of his own, an Oe-style tale minus the sombre ending, he starts having unsettling dreams and receives a menacing phone call during an interview. On top of that, he meets a geisha named Tamao (Minamoto Lika), who claims to be stalked by her former lover: Shundei Oe.

That's the premise: the rest of the film is a succession of murders, mysteries and twists, all delivered following the blueprint set by The Usual Suspects and exploited to the point of self-parody by the Saw franchise. These parallels aren't just predictable, they're downright unavoidable, since Schroeder's blatant intent is to make Shundei Oe a cinematic icon in the same league as Keyser Soze and Jigsaw (the latter is more of a genre icon, but that's beside the point). That this doesn't happen is due to the director mimicking the behavior of the film's protagonist: just like Alex imitates Oe without adding anything personal, Schroeder sets out to be a new Bryan Singer while being handed a ridiculously thin script and a twist ending that some people (most, actually) will find more obvious than the final revelation of The Village.

And yet, despite that, Inju isn't god-awful or even boring. How come? Because Schroeder most likely knew the plot wasn't that strong and put all his energy into the creation of a memorable, perverse atmosphere, and he succeeds: the gloomy mood is adequately complemented by sly visual nods to Cronenberg and Takashi Miike, most notably the weird sexuality that is present in either's body of work. There is nothing too explicit, but what is there is suggestive enough to wonder: what if Schroeder had directed Basic Instinct 2? As for the acting, there is nothing special to write home about, but Magimel deserves some back-slapping for being a better actor here than he was in the abysmal Crimson Rivers 2 (still nowhere near the heights he reached in The Piano Teacher, though).

And then there's the movie's major selling point, one of the best opening sequences in the genre's history: a Tarantino-inspired film-within-the-film that sums up Inju's unconventional charm in ten minutes. The overall picture isn't a masterpiece, that's for sure, but that beginning is worth the ticket price regardless.

I'm not sure why this film was made, every character is bland and the actors are either talentless or badly directed, everything is by the numbers; dream sequences, an incredibly obvious twist, no social commentary and no examination of morals or motives. Don't expect anything particularly Japanese or French, this is as bland as anything out of Hollywood, it only inspires confusion and frustration. Like many movies made about writers this is full of awful writing, it should have been two intelligent complex characters matching wits, subtly probing, dropping taunting elusive clues. Instead it is one barely competent adversary foiling a totally moronic protagonist while dropping unambiguous proof and lucking into foiling the one able character who is then perfunctorily killed.

Inju - The Geisha Killer, alternatively known as Inju: The Beast in the Shadow, is based on a Japanese novel by Edogawa Rampo. It tells about a French crime author who admires and has based much of his work on the expertise and skill of a Japanese colleague, named Shundei Oe, a known recluse who has never been seen in public. But now our main character is about to travel to Japan and it just might be that he gets a chance to meet his idol.

What makes this film work is its cohesion. No single element in it stands out, nothing in it is all that extraordinary. But neither does it have any weak elements in it. It is a proficient mystery thriller done right. The two main actors, Benoît Magimel and Lika Minamoto, are both talented and likable in their roles. The Japanese setting is utilized well enough. The score is nice, the pacing is nice and the twists are genuinely thrilling, though I did see the final twists coming a bit early, but that simply gave me the joy of discovery.

Then again, I can sort of see why this film hasn't received all that much praise. It doesn't stand out. It is merely good in an average way, which makes it forgettable. I'm personally a big fan of Japanese culture, which certainly made me more favourable to this film, allowing me to accept it from the start. But, otherwise, I probably would have thought it to be a bit lazy and not that inspired.

It's still a good film. Definitely worth seeing if you're into thrillers and especially if you like Japan as a setting as well. Don't expect any miracles, just lay back and enjoy a decent mystery story with an erotic undertone.

old recipes. not bad result. only problem - the story is far to be original but it has decent presented, the drops of Orient saves large parts, the cast is inspired and the ambiguity preserved in a correct form. at first sigh it seems be an easy spell. fascinating, ambiguous, far by great ambitions but beautiful. a film who preserves a special flavor who saves the mistakes or the old ways. Benoit Magimel is, not surprise, one of the good choices for the role of writer looking the truth. and his work seems be more than decent . far to be a great thriller, it is a seductive one. a challenge and a meeting. and Japanese culture's crumbs as veil to define the fight for understand the truth.

if it not becomes boring.a French writer in Japan. in search of a ghost. a meeting. adventures. and a confuse chain of events. the story is beautiful and the cast is nice. but not Benoit Magimel or Lika Minamoto can save the film. it remains a mixture of Hollywood crumbs and Oriental atmosphere. drawing of thriller with few drops of erotic scenes. and the end can impress at first view. like a magic of clown. but it is not really credible and seems be a kind of Pulp Fiction copy. full of good intentions, its ambitions are too great. it is not really a sin. but the game with delicate ingredients for a story with beautiful air but without a real subject is not base for success. only for a sparkle.