Ikari

Even without the vices of lust for money, hate, envy, human beings can be such miserable creatures. This is a heart wrenching drama set in beautiful locations and beautifully acted.

It's a take on the psyche of simple people, when faced with adversity, sometime even not directed at them. It's about love, rage, helplessness, faith, trust and beliefs and how sometimes they get the better of us.

Films like Se7en, Crash come to mind in terms of the effect it leaves behind. And like those films probably I wont muster the desire to watch it again, but I am glad I saw it.

Great Movie (be aware of some scenes might be very disturbing) that does not hold back any punches. You will be angry, sad, happy and disturbed.

Amazing acting, the movie will keep you guessing and questioning yourself. Its a detective movie and multiple love story at the same time. Movie takes place in 3 different Japanese cities with beautiful cinematography. As you sit on the edge of your seat you wonder about the different scenarios that someone faces in life and how you would react to it.

Truly enjoyable, a movie that you need to dedicate your time to it to understand it. Love it..

This film begins with a gruesome murder scene, where a man and a woman are found dead in their home. The police traces who the killer is by thumbprints, and the killer's photo is all over the news. Three fugitives' lives, who look like the killer in the photo, are told in the film.

I bought the cinema ticket without knowing what the film was about. And wow, I was blown away by it. I did not expect the story to be so gripping and engaging. Though there are a lot of characters, they are all properly introduced, so that there is no confusion as to who is who. The identity of the killer is kept a secret throughout until the very end, which makes the film suspenseful. I am also positively surprised by the major subplot of two homosexual characters, with a few explicit scenes that I do not normally associate with Japanese films. Furthermore, emotions are very well portrayed in the film, including love, trust, mistrust and very heavy guilt. There are so many heartbreaking scenes that exposes the characters' hurt and deep sadness, making "Ikari" a film to watch and feel. I enjoyed the experience thoroughly.

...start with too much blood and a crime but this movie is not a thriller; is about the relationships and the feelings. Normally people suppose things about the other; sometimes are correct but mostly do not. The plot has some errors to settle in couple of turns in the story but again, this is not the main goal of this movie. The acting here is pretty consistent and demonstrate that with a tight budget you can make it possible.

This Japanese mystery/drama is made up of three concurrent stories centring on enigmatic strangers who enter the orbits of trusting individuals from different Japanese cities, while a grim double-murder investigation plays out in the background. In Chiba, an ex sex worker forms a relationship with a taciturn young man whom her father is wary of, a confident gay man begins a relationship with a quiet and mysterious man he met in a seedy joint in downtown Tokyo and a young lady newly arrived in Okinawa befriends a drifter who lives alone on a nearby island.

I must say that I found this film to be pretty riveting from start to finish. The detective strand of the story takes a bit of a back-seat while the three main plot strands propel forwards. But the whodunit aspect remains extremely compelling and I was gripped to the end. The various stories all play off feelings of trust/mistrust in regard to how the trio of strangers are perceived and treated by the people they come into contact with. The acting by the ensemble cast is very strong throughout and the different dramas all have a strong dramatic punch to them. The film is pleasingly unpredictable and it really is difficult working out how it is going to play out, which is of course a big bonus for a mystery movie, but while the ending was satisfying it might have been slightly less than the journey getting there. This is a fairly minor complaint as this as a whole is a very strong bit of Japanese cinema. Be warned though, there is one extremely harrowing scene mid-way through the picture which was hell of a difficult to watch and very emotionally tough indeed. A couple of folks at the screening I attended walked out at this point in actual fact, I won't say any more as its best to go into this with no prior knowledge as it is a key scene. So, it is a film which is definitely tough in places. It is a very impressive bit of work though, with strong dramatics underpinned by a compelling mystery framework and it is well worth seeing if you can take films with disturbing content.