Minha Vingança

I think this movie is an all around tour-de-force depiction of a sociopath. All aspects of this movie are superb. The main actor gives a truly chilling and convincing portrayal of a man with no conscience, at the same time giving his character great depth and complexity. Aside from being based on true events, this cold blooded murderer is much more realistic than the clever game-playing types portrayed in such films as "Silence of the Lambs". I would highly recommend this movie to all but the squeamish.

Shohei Imamura's multi award winning film Vengeance is Mine follows after the dismal performance of The Profound Desire of the Gods, this time being a film that is more accessible. Based on a novel which follows the life of crime of real-life criminal Iwao Enokizu (played by Ken Ogata), at one time the most wanted man in Japan for his series of murders, this was probably my favourite movie today, until I watched Imamura's Palme d'Or winner Ballad of Narayama.

It's no surprise that this is something more conventional, given that it plays out narratively in retrospect, and that audiences sure like something that is based on real life. I thought it unfurled similarly to Catch Me If You Can, except that while Frank Abignale Jr was once a conman, defrauding banking institutions and adopting various identities, Iwao Enokizu was a killer first, and conman second, assuming identities to obtain cash for basic necessities, and for pleasurable moments to satisfy his lust for flesh.

The story seeks to discover his motivation and rationale for a life in crime, and goes way back to when Enokizu was a child, and hating his father for being weak in standing up against oppressors (in truth, there is little he can actually do except to lose his life if he doesn't comply). Hatred also bred deeper when his father is a religious hypocrite, obviously sinning against Enokizu with the lust for his wife Kazuko (Mitsuko Baisho, who's a dead ringer for Hong Kong actress Cherie Chung), and strangely enough, for Kazuko to fall heads over heals for the old man too. This father-son dynamics, like in Catch Me If You Can, pops up now and then through the story to remind you of the beginnings of the feud, except that there is absolutely no love between the two of them.

I thought Ken Ogata is enigmatic on screen, with his crazed antics as the killer on the loose, and his suave demeanour when posing as a professor and a lawyer. There's this mean streak within that glint in the eye, and surely, this is one man you definitely would not want to cross. For the most parts of the story, it deals with the love between his Enokizu and an inn manager Haru (Mayumi Ogawa), who falls in love with devotion of blind faith, and the happenings within the confines of that inn. What I thought was a bit difficult to sit through though, was the violence against women in the movie, with the constant slapping across the cheek (and I notice this too in the other Imamura films), and some included rape.

But the theme that took the cake was the one on religious hypocrisy as personified by Enokizu's father Shizuo (Rentaro Mikuni), and really, this is the kind of dads, or persons that you'll love to hate. Preaching something and practicing another, you wonder whether Enokizu would seek him out for revenge, since it seemed like Shizuo was indeed Iwao's most hated person on earth, rather than work on his victims by chance.

Vengeance of Mine is full of nudity, sex and gratuitous violence, which gave it an R21 rating for today's uncut screening. Simple to follow, and definitely enjoyable by fans who have a preference for true life crime stories. Some of the actors here become familiar faces when they get casted again in the next movie, Ballad of Narayama, and I thought Vengeance was a nice way of introducing those actors to us first.

'Vengeance Is Mine' is one of the best movies I've watched in a long time. I know there is a growing cult surrounding Imamura ('The Pornographers'), but I'm still extremely surprised that this movie isn't better known and discussed more. For many movie fans Japanese cinema either equals Kurosawa and Ozu if you're highbrow, and Godzilla and Mothra if you aren't, but both these simplistic approaches marginalize all kinds of fascinating and exciting movies from Suzuki's 'Tokyo Drifter' and 'Branded To Kill' in the 1960s, 'Vengeance Is Mine' and Oshima's 'In The Realm Of The Senses' in the 1970s, on to such contemporary innovators as Shinya Tsukamoto ('Tetsuo'), Beat Takeshi ('Hana-bi'), Takashi Ishii ('Gonin'), and Takashi Miike ('Ichi The Killer'). 'Vengeance Is Mine' is easily the most interesting serial killer movie I've ever seen. The narrative structure can be a bit confusing at first, and that combined with Imamura's non-judgmental approach might throw some viewers for a while, but if you persevere you won't regret it. Ken Ogata gives an impressive performance and the movie as a whole is utterly brilliant. I watched it twice to try and fully appreciate it, and I would now rate it as one of the very best movies of the 1970s (my favourite movie decade). This beautiful and disturbing movie comes with my highest recommendation!

Far from a film that explores the "whydunit?" of a ruthless but charming murderer, Vengeance of Mine bristles with all the energies Imamura believes the real Japanese possess. These people are in lower social positions and just trying to survive the brutality of day-to-day struggles. In their energy, courage, and perseverance to survive, Vengeance of Mine becomes beautiful and captivating to watch.

Admittedly, it is quite difficult to understand such stereotypes as murderer, tempted Catholic, prostitute, pimp/hotel owners, and delivery men as eccentric individuals in the space of two hours. But oddly enough, I feel a strange sense of familiarity in the hustle and bustle of these characters in the story. They may live their lives teetering on what is considered socially acceptable or healthful, but Imamura presents them with such respect and curiosity (of an anthropologist?!) - that I cannot resist feeling their robust lives leaping off the screen. In this way their seemingly bizzare and extreme behavior are very convincing, very real, and very touching.

Highly recommended for the challenging story (flashbacks, vignettes, illogical twists and turns of story and visual), quirky pace, idyllic country scenes, and the wonderful performance of Ken Ogata.

Immamura Shohei, one of Japan's best directors, does not put a foot wrong in VENGEANCE IS MINE, one of the best films ever made.

This is a searing, raw, uncompromising study of a disturbed, callous, opportunistic killer, husband and son.

The film, running just over two hours, takes an almost doco-style approach to the crimes of its protagonist (played with chilling conviction by Ken Ogata) and takes great pains to examine the impact his behavior had on his mother, father and wife.

A flashback, which goes some way towards explaining how Ogata developed such a disdain for authority, is a masterstroke of cinematic brevity.

Although Immamura is known mostly for such brilliant work as THE PORNOGRAPHERS, BLACK RAIN and the excellent THE EEL, this is surely his crowning achievement, a film so rich and involving that it personifies everything that is so amazing about Japanese cinema, truly a cinema of the soul.