Watches
June 11, 2022
An intriguing film from Masahiro Kobayashi. What looks like a police procedural gets stripped down to the bones to reveal a thrilling, oppressive and mysterious drama. The slow pacing and excessive length are deliberate and functional, even so I think cutting 15-20 minutes could've made this into a personal favorite.
Detective Murata became a recluse after losing his wife. When a young girl gets brutally murdered with a chainsaw in a hotel room in Tokyo, Murata is brought back from retirement to take on the case. Together with his partner he travels to Hokkaido, where the girl was born, to unravel the mystery.
The performances are superb, with a career defining role for Teruyuki Kagawa. Stylistically the film is pretty unique, sporting a very minimalistic take on Takashi Zeze's gritty crime and drama vibe. It is quite slow and rather long though, so make sure you're in the right headspace if you want to take on this film. Very good, stops just short of being great.