Vengeance Is Mine

It's a bit of a cliche to say that a film "doesn't offer any easy answers," but this one almost mocks the idea that there are questions to be asked. There are a few moments of dark humour here, but mostly Imamura avoids both pathos and irony; the result is a more understated but deep cynicism: "the banality of evil" in the most literal sense. The IMDB summary is awful, btw.

A really tough watch. The fragmented narrative presents a willful effort to crack the psyche of a remorseless serial killer. It offers plenty of context but seems to suggest that any efforts to find a reason for the violence are inadequate at best. The story then becomes about how this unexplainable murderous rage manifests in a seemingly normal member of society. Great acting, fascinating social dynamics & subtle surrealism. Staggering how empathic yet unsentimental Imamura's style had become.

Imamura was, to western eyes, one of the first directors to subvert what was otherwise expected of japanese cinema. His gritty, raw and mordantly funny pictures the diametric opposite of the grace and measured emotion of masters like Ozu and the didacticism of revered hacks like Mizoguchi. That being said, the kinetic and frantic cinema of Ishii and his ilk was still a few years away at this point, and for all its pros, the film stills lags at points and lacks direction in others.

Fascinating character study of a psychopath, immaculately incarnated by Ogata. The sex and violence aren't as explicit as can be found elsewhere, but the force with which they are delivered makes this a highly disturbing and involving work.

I thought of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer as I watched this. Both are based on true stories about remorseless killers, and neither attempts to explain the psychology of their subjects, each giving only a small glimpse of the events that may have shaped their psychoses. Each also has a bit of humor to it, and a gratuitous level of sex and/or violence. I like this one more, though. The fragmented narrative keeps you on your toes, and I'm intrigued by the social and religious undertones.

Hard to pin down, this seems to want to show that there is a world beneath appearances, a world where the passions and drives are both suffered and enjoyed, and through which an exploiter can move almost with impunity. With a very unusual and direct approach to the physicality of both violence and sex, this is quite affecting, and we seem forced to confront a kind of "existential" question about whether the protagonist is simply incapable of any care whatsoever or, rather, cares all too much.

That it favorably compares to Henry: Portrait, and that it's nicely shot and played, are possibly the biggest compliments I have for Vengeance is Mine. I wouldn't mind that it has none of the brutality it's advertised for, but the family drama actually featured is a bit anemic and drags on for 140 minutes. None of the characters are very involving, and I wouldn't mourn if they all got strangled half way through.

A portrait of a psychopath, it doesn't try to explain why he's a murderer, it just lets us know that he is. Very well acted by the whole cast.

One of those movies where nearly every character is deeply flawed, which makes it hard to watch at times. Add a main character that commits murders for seemingly arbitrary reasons, and you end up with 140 minutes of bleakness that doesn't add up to anything truly special in the end.

Well, that was unpleasant. I'd such high expectations after Profound Desire.

There's a kind of claustrophobic, unpredictable and unshakable horror in this film. "Evil" is not taken up for fucking debate - the world is just "evil", sick, whatever. Love is, at best, present in a distorted condition. Nothing is clean. Michael Atkins in Sight & Sound says: "[...] Imamura may have been cinema's premier cynic - next to him, Bunuel looks like a romantic". After seeing this, one has to nod with resolution.

You have to keep up with this movie; if you can, its a rewarding look at a sociopath/killer.

Vengeance for what? What makes a man become this evil? The movie isn't concerned with answering these questions with some grand revelation. But that's what makes it all the more fascinating - and more true.

A very interesting study of a serial killer. It starts off feeling like a crime procedural, but as the film progresses we get flashes of insight into the disturbed mind of Enokizu. The film doesn't really provide many answers, which is a bit of a letdown at first, but that's probably the point. We see contributing factors, both personal and societal, but at the end of the day the killing spree is primarily the product of a sociopath. While Enokizu is the focus of the movie, postwar Japan is also

It deals with the murders, the investigation, and Enokizu's journey on the run very straightforward and bluntly, which might turn some people off. I liked it, though. It made the movie an interesting, and pretty brutal, character study of a psychopath. The documentary-style camerawork contributed to that feeling, but the movie still doesn't necessarily feel like naturalism. I think it drags on a bit too long for its own good, and at certain points it loses some steam, but it ends on a high note.

Excellent performances all around keep Vengeance is Mine thoroughly engaging. It's not often that movies about real-life serial killers are as interesting or well done as this one is.

Super cool Japanese crime drama with a curious title. Enokizu reminded me of a combination of Henry from Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer and Tom Ripley. There are some messed up relationships here. The structure is a bit Citizen Kane-y, with him starting in an interrogation cell and then we flash back through interviews with people who knew him earlier. We eventually learn everything that happened, but like in Henry, there are no good answers as to why (just as there aren't in life sometimes.

The story was too broken up to offer any real reason for the person to be this violent.

Viewed February 21, 2021.

Strap yourself in 'cause this is a rough one. Really worth it though. I thought Ken Ogata's performance in Mishima was world-class and he's mesmerizing here as well.

I couldn't turn away from the train wreck of a man on a murderous rampage while evading capture. Pacing was erratic, and there were problems with the changing timelines, but most of the acting was excellent. Also a bit of nice nudity. This movie was successful in setting up several tense moments and evoking some strong emotion. I was utterly outraged by one of the senseless killing near the end. The story was engaging up until the stupid final wrap up and nonsensical ending scene.

The story of a long-simmering sociopath (Ken Ogata) who ultimately becomes a murderer, criss-crossing Japan as he evades capture--no mean feat, as his picture is plastered everywhere. It's quite compelling, using its length and deliberate pacing to its advantage. Ogata, Rentaro Mikuni as his father, Mitsuko Baisho as his wife, and Mayumi Ogawa as an innkeeper who loves him despite knowing he's guilty, are all marvelous. There are assorted flaws (like the final scene), but it's strong overall.

Ogata is fascinating as Enokizu, a brutal criminal. But there are many characters here who have one thread running through them: guilt. This is probably a better film for summer, when the long nights won't cause one to brood over it.

The technically stylish takes on real life crimes such as Zodiac seem paper thin to this subdued take on a real murderer. It avoids the barrier true life stories can create between them and the viewer by slowly pulling you into the world of the 'characters', all of them fatally flawed but with some humanity, amplified by a fragmented narrative that avoids leading you by the hand through a rigid timeline and allowing Imamura to bring in his view of Japan at the time. It confirms his talent.

Fantastic. Sets the bar for serial killer films, with Badlands.

It's not about how Iwao came to be the way he is. It's not about why Iwao does what he does. It's not about Iwao running away from the police. To put it simply, it's about Iwao, and one of the better performances of a serial killer you'll find.

Ken Ogata gives a compelling performance as Iwao Enokizu, a sociopathic serial murderer who's sort of a cross between Max Cady and Frank Abagnale Jr. But outside of that, this is a rather dull, lifeless account. I've seen more interesting explorations of similar material on Court TV.