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DVD Description
Based on the true story of Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata) and his murderous rampage which sparked a 78-day nationwide manhunt, Shohei Imamura's disturbing gem Vengeance is Mine won every major award in Japan on the year of its release. Both seducing and repelling with its unusual story and grisly humour, Imamura uncovers a seedy underbelly of civilised Japanese society.
Special Features
Newly restored high definition transfer • Full-length audio commentary by Tony Rayns • Video introduction by Alex Cox • Optional English subtitles • Production stills gallery • 32-page booklet with reprints of original promotional material and a new essay by midnighteye.com's Jasper Sharp.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imamura's Finest,
By Murasaki53 "Murasaki53" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vengeance is Mine - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] (DVD)
I saw this film recently on a Hong Kong Region 3 DVD. It is simply terrific. For once we get a fleshed out, plausible serial-killer to contemplate. The direction is taut and the acting is first-rate. I actually think Imamura is an overrated director (I didn't care much for 'The Eel' and 'Ballad of Narayama' is good but not great). But if he had made more films of this standard he would truly deserve a place amongst the first rank of film directors. The Eureka Masters of Cinema series is terrific and so I intend to upgrade to their edition very soon.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IMAMURA'S FINEST FILM,
By
This review is from: Vengeance is Mine - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] (DVD)
This is a great film and undoubtedly Imamura's best. The cinematography, characterisations and intricate plot development are all superb. For those who know his later films, look out for a number of themes and tropes that he recycled, with a more surrealistic treatment, in 'The Eel'. While I liked the latter, it lacks the seriousness and sharpness of 'Vengeance is Mine'. 'Vengeance' has all the sheer impact of a Takashi Miike film such as 'Audition', while maintaining Imamura's well-known early scrupulous attention to detail and documentary style. Having been extremely disappionted by the insipid 'Roberto Succo', Imamura's serial killer Iwao combined the almot pathetic banality of Kieslowki's boy from 'A Short Film about Killing' with the blank menace of Kiyoshi Kurasawa's stranger in 'Cure'. Full marks all round, the best film I have seen in ages!
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Reasonable people can disagree,
By
This review is from: Vengeance is Mine - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] (DVD)
I know this film is raved about worldwide, but I don't see what's so great about it. What's taken as the director's objectivity seems to me to be because he doesn't know what to do with the material before him. The film has a few jumps in time that's unnecessary (mostly it follows the killer's life while on the run, but throughout there's scenes from after he's apprehended); its psychological explanations are few and far between; the occasional humour disrupts the uniform bleakness of the film; and the references to Japan's war-era militarism are heavyhanded.
The film does a good job of showing how actual violence is an unchoreographed mess, it ably shows the underside of the Japanese middle class dream, and it does a great job in revealing that family bonds can be as much about self-interest as love and affection. But all in all in my opinion this should have been a much better film.
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