Tokimeki ni shisu

This cool, detached Japanese drama risks being pigeonholed as a mystery simply because it never fully explains what exactly is happening. By downplaying the (already negligible) plot and working in brief, reticent episodes the film becomes an infuriating (some would say pretentious) labyrinth, full of odd twists, turns, and too many dead ends, but always moving toward an unknown but inevitable conclusion. It begins when a strange, dispassionate (almost comatose) young man arrives in a quiet country villa, where his nervous host is given anonymous instructions to attend to his guest's every need. Exactly what the stranger is hiding from or waiting for only becomes clear in the final few scenes, when a popular (and likewise unidentified) cult figure visits the town on a scheduled tour. After all the intrigue and anticipation the final piece of the puzzle can't help but come as a letdown, but the complete picture is nevertheless unsettling and haunting, however much it strains the viewer's patience.

This is almost a minimalistic art piece, but there is practically no attention drawn to the artistic side of it making it work more like a moody drama, however, attached to that mood and drama is the ever-present awareness that death in the form of murder is going to happen. "Deaths" in the title and the first thing the movie tells us is that someone is going to be killed - inevitable death surrounds the mood. Who, how, why? It's not at all made clear for most of the movie, and we don't need to know because the characters clearly have a set purpose and we believe it - we just have to wait, like they do. By the start of the 3rd act everything is made clear what is supposed to happen, but we still don't know if it is going to or how it is going to play out.

The directing is excellent. A lesser hand and this would have been a bore-fest. As it was, I was almost enchanted.

This is not really a "crime" movie, definitely more a drama with a subtle backdrop of crime elements. A bit weird, a bit haunting. Recommended for those looking for something different who don't need action in their crime dramas.

6.6/10