The Third Murder

The murderer in this film has killed twice. So, why is the film called 'The Third Murder?' It's up to the viewer to answer the question. In my view, the third victim is the truth. As one of the protagonists remarks in a crucial scene: 'No one has spoken the truth'.

'The Third Murder' is a film asking a lot of questions, but answering few. To be clear: that's a good thing. What is truth? What is righteousness? Which of the two are more important for a lawyer? And for a judge? Is capital punishment always wrong? Or, in the words of the killer: should some people never have been born?

With this film, acclaimed film maker Hirukazo Kore-eda takes a different path from many of his previous films. He is known for his delicate and subtle dramas about the family life of ordinary people. This time, he has made a sort of courtroom drama (although only a small part is actually set in a courtroom) about a killer and his possible motives.

Still, the theme of family relations is not absent in this film. Far from it, in fact. Fatherhood is omnipresent. One of the most important characteristics of the killer is how he has failed as a father. The lawyer defending him discusses the case with his own father, a retired judge who has convicted the same killer decades earlier. And the dead victim turns out to have been the worst father imaginable. At least, in one version of the truth.

'The Third Murder' is a multi-layered, complex film which offers lots of surprises and twists. Kore-eda succeeds in keeping the viewer wondering what comes next. But at the same time, the result is less convincing than in some of Kore-eda's best family dramas, in which human nature is dissected by small acts and symbolic details. Not by important, philosophical questions.

With "The Third Murder" Hirokazu Koreeda sidepaths from the more lighthearted thematics his more recent movies like "our little sister" or "after the storm" had and reenters the realm of profound dramas in which he previously worked with in movies like "Like father like son" and one of his ealier works "after life". While the light hearted stuff is enjoyable and it is not as much of a risky "hit and miss" as a movie like "afterlife" might be, I think his more deep and serious movies are definitly more impacting and memorable, thats why I think "The third murder" is definitly one of Koreedas finest works.

In this crime thriller Koreeda explores heavily the ideas of truth, justice and especially motivation. Why do people say what they say? Can we really trust anyone? This movie was just so beautifully crafted with nearlly every scene you learn new things about character you thought you know already, just to find out how wrong you were, until you dont know what to believe anymore.

The cinematography was pretty unique to his other movies I would say. He added some emotionally driven music shots that fitted quite well with the tone of the movie and made some character interactions that were already tense and interesting even better by presenting interesting camera shots.

It was only fitting for Koreeda to give Masaharu Fukuyama the lead role given how well he did in "Like father like son" and he did a wonderful job again with this role. Also one of japans best actors "Koji Yakusho" did a perfect job, like most of the time and gave his role the exact nuance i was talking about previously, with being able to make yourself question your own judgement.

Overall I can only recommend this movie. Hirokazu Koreeda is one of Japans best living directos and "the third murder" is one of his best movies and I am already looking forward of rewatching this movie.

One of the most psychologically and thematically complex autopsies of truth, ethics, and morality I've seen. It reminds me of Rashomon in some respects, except that much of the fluidity and subjectivity of truth in this movie is found within a single character, and within societal systems of "truth-seeking," i.e., the "justice" and legal systems. Even the camera movement in this film is perfectly attuned to those themes, subtly moving into, over, and out of scenes from all directions. Koji Yakusho is superb as usual, and all other acting and casting is excellent as well, as is the score and the editing. I will be thinking on this one for a while.

Included in the extras on the Arrow disc of this film is a very thoughtful piece by Tony Rayns. He was careful to avoid as many spoilers as possible and as it turns out I would have done well to listen to him before watching the film. The Japanese judicial system, it turns out, is very different from everybody else's and the 'trial', it would seem is no such thing. Even with the recently reintroduced jury (who seem to play little part) the defendant is pretty much assumed guilty and the whole procedure an opportunity for society, in the form of the judge, to smooth things over and be as precise as possible as to sentence. All this would have helped when watching this rather long and complicated tale. Most of the 'complications' however occur in the matter surrounding admission of guilt and the fact that here, the truth and actual guilt are a moving feast (complete with seeming unreal flat-backs) makes for a difficult ride for the uninitiated. Powerful, nevertheless, with fine central performances and whilst I felt watching the film, that one viewing would be enough, learning more has led me to suppose another viewing might be more enjoyable.

The great lawyer Shigomori accepts a delicate case, the defense of Misumi, accused of theft and murder. Misumi, who thirty years earlier had served a prison sentence for murder, is now facing the death penalty. Astonishingly, the accused does not seem to care at all about his lot, the best evidence being that he does nothing to help his defender avoid it.

A specialist in childhood and family relations, Kore-eda ventures here into unfamiliar territory, the judicial thriller. The film raises interesting questions about the relativity of justice while at the same time keeping up the mystery: why does the accused, whose guilt is far from being proven, play cat and mouse with his defender and put obstacles in his way when he does everything in his power to save him from being hanged? Unfortunately, too much chatter and slowness diminishes the effectiveness of the film. But there are undeniable good points : the subtle acting of the two main protagonists, the beautiful nostalgic music by Ludovico Einaudi as well as the end of the film, a little more tonic than what preceded it. Quite a fair work on the whole but not up to the level of " Nobody Knows " or " Like father Like Son ".