On F List of Movie Reviews

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Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari (1979)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 5/24

5/24: Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari, aka Vengeance Is Mine, is a boring Japanese true crime picture.

In fact, 99% of the content is made up in spite of basing the story on serial killer Akira Nishiguchi whose name was changed to Iwao Enokizu. That being said, given his behavior and method of killing, Enokizu isn't a serial killer by any means. He's a murderer who happens to be addicted to it.

I guess putting Nishiguchi's life on screen proved to be too challenging for the director, so he opted for the easiest route. As a result, I'm treated to mundane affairs of Japanese people for two hours and twenty minutes. There are plenty of sex, fraud, incest, and female mistreatment with an occasional killing; no matter what, the film is patently dull. John McNaughton did it so much better in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

At the end, Enokizu's father is shown throwing a bone in the air before the next shot is frozen. That's when I thought the movie was finally over, but no....the director wants to keep going for another and another and another and another. What a pretentious thing to do to strive for a "special" meaning while the nonlinear technique of nihilistic storytelling is at best confusing and at worst silly.

All in all, don't be fooled by the DVD cover of Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari as it's anything but.

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