Jesus, the things people will say in comments. You'd think this film was some kind of tour de force of violence and depravity. Let me tell you what you are actually getting if you sit down to watch this.Sociopath guy gets arrested, then we have a flashback to his messed up childhood, then fast forward to shortly before he gets arrested, where the majority of the story takes place. During this time, he moves from one place to another to evade police, meets people, scams them, kills them, moves on. When he's not doing that, he is crawling in awkward positions around small indoor spaces.The rest of the time is spent watching characters display entirely inappropriate reactions to the things taking place. For example, the police discuss his crimes with him in the interrogation room without so much as batting an eyelid at his confessions. His ex-wife is in love with the guy's father who is old enough you hardly believe he can get it up.If you can buy all that, and if you think this kind of thing deserves a whopping two and a half hours of your time, enjoy. Otherwise, go see "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer."My God, the things people will say here... Look, whoever is in awe of this film is probably some kind of aficionado of Japanese cinema. If you do not fall in that category and are instead someone looking for some entertainment that will keep your interest throughout two hours and twenty minutes, do yourself a favor and leave this film be.

Iwao Enokizu, his life of crime and those he came in contact with(..many killed by his hands)along the way. The film elaborates Iwao's disconnect with his Catholic father and unhappy wife Kazuko, along with his budding romance to a sad and mistreated "kept woman" who runs an inn which services male clientèle with call girls from another location. Iwao never spends time too long in one place and travels throughout Japan donning different aliases, wearing various disguises(..professor, PR assistant, lawyer), always swindling people who fall for his cunning con-games. It seems that he kills those who treat him kindly, give him a place to stay, and show affection towards him, when, in actuality, Iwao would rather murder his father and wife. The film establishes the lust harboured between Iwao's father and Kazuko, not embracing each other(..she makes efforts, but he resists due to his religious ways)due to the ailing mother who knows how they feel about each other.Iwao's contempt for his father went back to childhood when pops surrendered boats to the military empire, and he would rebel his wishes throughout the rest of his life. Director Shohei Imamura doesn't exactly follow Iwao's life in direct order as is often seen regarding the history of someone, going back and forth(..at times retreating back to the jail cell as Iwao's recollects what brought him to the confession room, awaiting his future trip to the gallows), to the past and to the search for him. That's something, Imamura never fails to remind the viewer of, the manhunt/search for Iwao. It's quite exhaustive and covers a lot of ground.You often notice how those that come in contact with Iwao mention fate that they crossed paths with him, quite a morbid chill would come over me because these innocent people were doomed and just didn't know it. And, the murders at Iwao's hands are savage..Imamura shows Iwao pummel a very decent man with a hammer across the head, before viciously stabbing him, also attacking the victim's co-worker with a purchased knife not long after. The most unsettling was perhaps his strangling of a female victim, actually allowing her to catch a breath before finishing the poor woman off.. cleaning urine from her legs afterward. Even those murdered off-camera(..a retired attorney who lived in isolation, offering Iwao a place to stay, another he would suffocate with a rope, removing her ring to pawn for money)leave a lasting impression. He does so without much compassion, not seeming to show any remorse or guilt for committing his crimes, removing their money to keep him financed on his adventures. Interesting conclusion(..besides his father and wife's attempts to toss his bones with them freezing in the sky:even in death they could not rid themselves of Iwao's presence)where father and son meet one last time, painfully both open to each other regarding their contempt and disappointment for one another..I think Iwao, once and for all, lets us have a peak into his guarded psyche when he informs pops that he could never run far enough to escape his reach. Imamura, interestingly, seems to hold a rather scathing view of Catholicism and it's hypocrisy, using Iwao's father as a firm example of the nearly impossible resistance of desire, no matter if he touches Kazuko or not. Imamura returns to them time and again showing their discomfort around each other due to their desire and those who blatantly bring it to light. The place Iwao returns to(..his other "family")is the Asano inn where Haru provides a place for men to "let their hair" down, to gamble and screw in peace. Haru's "sugar daddy" comes around at times to check up on her(..or to flaunt his newest floozy)and he has her mom peeping around at night on customers(..his "eyes" when he isn't around). Haru also services him(..one disturbing scene shows him rape her with mama not interfering on her behalf, displaying just how desperate they were for the home he provides). Haru, despite her status in life, appeals to Iwao and this relationship(..also highlighting the rocky feelings between Iwao and Haru's mama)is also elaborated to great detail.One thing's for sure, Imamura's film openly displays sex and violence, the unpleasantness of both vividly brought to our attention over the lengthly running time. Ken Ogata convinces as the criminal, conveying a tortured soul, who seems to, most of the time, cloak those feelings within a cold demeanor, the beast only unleashed when confronting his father and wife. Women are often not treated with the utmost respect or honor, almost all damaged in some way.

Vengeance is Mine (1979) is a truly powerful film; an elliptical reconstruction/personal examination into the criminal mind, presenting a number of potential questions as to why this character became the person that he did, but offering us nothing in the way of easy answers. It is anchored by the central performance of Ken Ogata as Iwao Enokizu, a thirty-something tearaway and con artist who one day murders two men, seemingly for financial benefit, and in the process, triggers one of the largest and most infamous manhunts in Japanese history. Whereas the story presents numerous avenues of thought and situations that recall the very best of Hollywood serial killer films, crime fiction or the cinema of investigation, the film refuses to conform to any of this; giving us a juxtaposing mood wherein elements of documentary-like realism are cross-cut with a more enigmatic element of self-reflection, memory and examination.Given this particular presentation, Vengeance is Mine can be seen as something of a difficult film; employing a fractured timeline that takes in thirty years of Iwao's family history, as well as offering us a central narrative perspective that seems to have been woven together from a number of different, highly conflicting viewpoints. Illustrating this device, director Imamura begins the film with the capture of Iwao and his transportation back to police HQ. From here, we cut to the police inspectors interrogating the murderer, who taunts them with his flippant behaviour, uncooperative attitude and provocative questioning before a chain of events begins to form. Here, Imamura juggles the narrative perspective of Iwao with that of the police, so that we are never quite sure if what we're seeing is a recreation of police evidence or the word of a man that we cannot really trust. As the film progresses, other characters will be introduced, and all of them will in some way contribute towards fleshing out the story in such a way that continues this idea of a patchwork narrative, or conversely, what film critic Tony Rayns refers to as "the lines of thought".The effect that Imamura's structure has on us is at times staggering; cutting to a scene of spiralling family turmoil in between moments of murder and seduction, in a way that both disarms and distracts us; forcing us to ask questions and connect the dots as it were to try and pin point Iwao's exact reason for this misanthropic violence and rage. Later in the film, more surreal and enigmatic moments will be added to offer further shades of reference, accumulating as we crawl closer and closer to a final that we hope will tie these issues together, but instead, leaves us with even more questions pertaining to the complex ideas regarding love, honour, family, faith, society, spirituality, regret, rage, murder, life and death. This presents a stark irony to the film. Whereas the structure of the script and the presentation of the characters and narrative are incredibly complicated and vague, Imamura's direction is subtle and as light as a feather.Perhaps drawing somewhat on his past work in documentary-directing, the style of Vengeance is Mine has an uncomplicated minimalism and sense of urgency. Imamura makes great use of cramped, claustrophobic interiors, from the police car in the opening sequence, to the interrogation scenes, to the sequences between Iwao and the owner of a hotel where he later hides out. He also captures the spirit of 60's Japan, moving from the small islands and villages with their old ways and traditional values, to the bright lights of the city and a beguiling underworld of crime and prostitution. Much of the film is shot in a very light, cinéma-vérité style with hand-held cameras or locked off shots framed through windows and doorways, with the use of extensive on-screen inter-titles to announce the names of victims, the date and times of death, and the choice of murder weapon. Again, this appropriation of style and the emphasis on examination and a certain presentation of reality in all its sordid detail is very much keeping with Imamura's previous documentary work, and the lurid, real-life aspect of Iwao Enokizu's unprovoked double-murder, and the gruelling 78 day manhunt that followed.In keeping with this uncomplicated visual approach, the violence of Vengeance is Mine is stark, uncompromising and brutal. As ferocious and provocative as the central performance from Ken Ogata and as cold and unsympathetic as the murders in Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing (1988). Given Iwao's character, and Imamura' refusal to take sides regarding these complicated issues - presenting the drama from a distance and allowing the audience the opportunity to make up their own mind regarding the various rights and wrongs - Vengeance is Mine will definitely be a difficult work for many viewers. Iwao is such an unlikable and unsympathetic character and yet, we watch the film unfold through his eyes and share in his thoughts, feelings, lies and disappointments. The title is also misleading and vague; tapping into the ideas of Catholicism central to the plot but in no way representing the view point of any of these characters.Ultimately, Vengeance is Mine requires thought and consideration on the part of the audience to pick apart the various sub textual ideas presented by the narrative and the matter of fact way in which the direction comments on them. There are clear ideas of family, with the relationship between husband and wife, father and son, mother and son all driving Iwao to commit these crimes and show no sympathy, as well as cultural and spiritual taboos central to the Japanese culture of the post war era. The highly enigmatic ending also adds further shades that require personal interpretation, with the last five minutes presenting something vaguely surreal and undoubtedly thought provoking. Vengeance is Mine is a bold and provocative work that forces the viewer to ask some serious questions, with no guarantee of any easy answers, and remains a powerful and uncompromising work of intelligent cinema.

Nasty, but fascinating account based on the true story of a deeply disturbed serial killer in early 1960's Japan. But this is very different from most movies of the genre in that it gives no neat psychological explanations of why he kills, or indeed gives any particular moral overview. It has a complex structure starting at his capture and working back and forth from there to his childhood and his murders. Its not an easy film to watch in many ways, but via an excellent central performance it manages to convey the complexity of the killer and the people he meets, including the women who (sometimes) love him, without ever taking an easy narrative or moral option. Perhaps the nearest equivalent movie I can think of is the more recent Korean 'Memories of Murder' which likewise breaks the 'rules' set by western serial killer movies, and as such are far more informative and interesting.