Sono Shion amps it up in this tale of a tropical fish store owner, Shamoto, who crosses paths with alpha male Murata and finds his weaknesses exposed and inner strengths tested to the limit.
The film is part gorefest, part schlockfest, and very, very bloody. The actors come at their parts full tilt, especially the Lady Macbeth-esque Asuka Kurosawa as Aiko, who surely watched Lena Olin in Romeo Is Bleeding to prepare. Denden as Murata is overblown but deeply disturbed and disturbing. The physicality of the performance means he is all feral restlessness. Women can't resist him, men can't defeat him. When finally overcome, his pathetic babbling in a return to childhood is unnerving. This contrasts in the extreme with the meek, eyes-always-downward Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), who is disconnected from his daughter and has re-married badly. He needs shaken from his reverie, and Murata is a sobering, nerve-jangling wake-up call.
With Japan's current concerns about heinous crimes, herbivore males and willful young females, there are elements here that speak to the times. Except they don't so much 'speak', as scream and shout. Sion thinks how far everything can go and then doubles it, so that any social message is hard to tease out from the relentless battering of the senses. Like Love Exposure, this film is too long, and enjoys exploiting its female characters too much. But there is something here that seeps through the hacked flesh and spiralling body count. Perhaps it is an interrogation of the crisis in Japanese masculinity. Whatever it is, this is a bold and provocative film that dares you to try and dismiss it.
The film is part gorefest, part schlockfest, and very, very bloody. The actors come at their parts full tilt, especially the Lady Macbeth-esque Asuka Kurosawa as Aiko, who surely watched Lena Olin in Romeo Is Bleeding to prepare. Denden as Murata is overblown but deeply disturbed and disturbing. The physicality of the performance means he is all feral restlessness. Women can't resist him, men can't defeat him. When finally overcome, his pathetic babbling in a return to childhood is unnerving. This contrasts in the extreme with the meek, eyes-always-downward Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), who is disconnected from his daughter and has re-married badly. He needs shaken from his reverie, and Murata is a sobering, nerve-jangling wake-up call.
With Japan's current concerns about heinous crimes, herbivore males and willful young females, there are elements here that speak to the times. Except they don't so much 'speak', as scream and shout. Sion thinks how far everything can go and then doubles it, so that any social message is hard to tease out from the relentless battering of the senses. Like Love Exposure, this film is too long, and enjoys exploiting its female characters too much. But there is something here that seeps through the hacked flesh and spiralling body count. Perhaps it is an interrogation of the crisis in Japanese masculinity. Whatever it is, this is a bold and provocative film that dares you to try and dismiss it.