Rinjin 13-gô

If you are expecting horror, forget it. If you are expecting "psychological thriller," forget that too. In fact, if you are expecting anything halfway moving, gripping, or attention-grabbing in the least, FORGET ALL ABOUT IT.

The film has a decent premise but unfortunately displays the absolute worst traits of a certain strain of Japanese horror films which, as another reviewer mentions, owe a lot to Miike's more exasperatingly BORING experiments, such as that "Ichii" crap.

The problem here is that this movie move's at a snail's pace. That would have been alright had there been some kind of payoff, but there is not. Characters stare at each other for MINUTES ON END inexplicably in the middle of a @#$# conversation, children see dead, bloodied bodies and simply stand there aloof like scarecrows before casually walking away--countless reactions are completely fake and unrealistic. The film was a great idea but any kind of dramatic effect is robbed from it by the stupid SILENCE and stilted dialogue which plagues the entire film.

If you think boring crap such as "964 Pinocchio" and the "All Night Long" series were "disturbing," you'll probably like this film too. If you're looking for a REAL MOVIE, you'll wish you hadn't given it the chance in the first place, especially considering it's nearly two hours long. (If they had had haflway normal dialog and half-way HUMAN reactions among characters, the film would've been an hour and a half).

If you're looking for good Asian horror/revenge/drama, see the Korean "Oldboy." As far as "Rinjin 13-gô" goes: AVOID.

I'm happy to have caught this one at the International Rotterdam film festival 2005 a few months ago. I actually enjoyed myself very much. It was a special screening which the director joined and introduced with a nice little speech. He basically said that a lot of film festivals rejected it because of its harsh violence and that Rotterdam is the first to be open to it. In other words; I was in for a big treat.

All in all, the movie isn't overtly violent. However, that doesn't take away that it's very good debut of the director, not to mention a good adaptation of a manga. It's a nice slow paced psychological movie that toys with the troubles of a man who has suffered a lot in his younger years and is now living with the after effects. It's a very dark movie with horror and drama elements about a young man being tormented and teased most of his younger school years. Years later, he has taken refuge in his little house where he has bad dreams, fantasies and is alone a lot. Then he gets a new job at a construction site and some new neighbors: turns out that the man of the family moving is his new employer and is fact, the same guy who used to make his life miserable. To make it short, it's payback time, but not a Kill Bill, Sin City type payback with slashing, one-liners and lots of action (which is also good btw), but a more slow-paced and build-up, tensed, psychological and slow payback. This approach proves to be very effective for the themes the movies tries to flow along: teen abuse, trauma, social pressure. The movie turns out to be an interesting study of human behavior and social schizophrenia. btw, The alter ego or second personality of the young guy is one of the scariest mo-fo's ever on screen, mentally but definitely physically, up there with the likes of Freddy Kruger, Hannibal, and whatnot. Horrific? Think of a very very very very scary looking guy you never wanna meet in this life or the next, that has been tormented most of his life and is completely immune to any moral, social of ethical code. It gets pretty horrific from there.

After the movie there was a short Q&A session with the director in which we could ask questions. The crowd wasn't too anxious and due to the bad information provided by the organization, half the audience was already gone. Regarding the violence, he thinks that a lot of people rejected the movie not because of the 'goryness' or explicit images of the violence but more because of the type of violence, the effects and motivations of that violence and the effects of it. I couldn't totally see that in the movie: a lot of the violent image are disturbing in a surreal sense, not so much in a shocking sense.

It's a shame that the people who control what we can and cannot see in theaters and festivals are passing up this film, and to be honest, I don't really get it. I can give you 25 other movies which are much more violent. But it probably has to do more with the realness of it all. Either way, I hope that after the release in homeland Japan, second of April, the movie will get more attention and hopefully this hidden gem will get a wider release across the globe.

You know, I don't say this about any foreign movies, but I am going to say it here. This movie could be done well as a North American remake (ducks!), in the right hands of course.

I absolutely adored the premise for this film. A child, tortured at school when he was young, develops multiple personalities from it. His dual personalities (one weak and kind, the other strong and sociopathic) are kept well hidden all of his life and don't affect anyone else until, some new neighbors move in. A very evil and cruel bully, who he also ends up working with at a construction site. The bully bullies him, and the stronger personality starts to emerge to protect the weaker one. And that's when the freaky stuff starts to happen.

Good pacing by the director, showing the main character's struggle with his past and slow descent into madness. Great acting by everyone, especially the stronger personality. That guy was absolutely terrifying to watch on screen. He brought an unusual amount of tension to every scene. Well done.

But in the end, I still thought the film was lacking. This movie should have been an easy 10/10, but I have to give it an 8, because more could have and should have been done to help flesh out the development of the main character. I still hope that all of you will go out there and give this film a chance, and hopefully some American producer will see its potential and try and get a remake made, because as good as it was...it could have been better.

I went into this film expecting something decent. What came out was amazing. If you are a fan on Japanese cinema this film should be on your must see list.

The film is not your standard revenge film involving revenge on those who hurt the victim but revenge on anyone. The action is fairly quick to get going and gets more and more disturbing as it goes along.

Definitely more enjoyable over a few beers since you will get to the point about not caring about the characters that die that much quicker since there is one characters death that does seem a little undeserved, but hey, its a Japanese horror flick! GO WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!.......NOW!!!

They say, "What goes around comes around," or "Karma is a bitch." In the case of bullies, I really hope that is true. Maybe they should show this film in schools to let them know that bullies sometimes get their just desserts, even if it is many years later.

Jûzô (Shun Oguri) was constantly bullied by Akai (Hirofumi Arai) and his friends in school. Now, they work for the same company, and even live in the same apartment building. Akai doesn't recognize Juzo, and that is good because he continues his bullying ways, and is going to get a taste of revenge.

But, before that we are witness to some real struggles between Juzo and his alter ego (Shidô Nakamura). This is presented in the form of an imaginary house, and again in cartoon form. Juzo doesn't want violence, but his alter ego is insistent. Apparently, the bullying drove him crazy.

The only think that prevent a higher score is the ending, which is very confusing. I have to chalk that up to the fact that this was a first attempt for both the director and the writers. Other than that, it was captivating -- with blood and gore, I have to add.

Takashi Miike makes a brief appearance as the first victim.