Vengeance Is Mine (Masters Of Cinema)

DVD Extras

• Newly restored high definition transfer, progressively encoded
• Full-length audio commentary by critic and filmmaker Tony Rayns
• Video introduction by Alex Cox
• Optional English subtitles
• 36-page booklet with a new essay by midnighteye.com's Jasper Sharp, new writing by Dr. Alastair Philips, reprints of original promotional brochures, and a word about the film by Shohei Imamura.

Film Details

Cast

Ken Ogata

Technical Details

Star Review

In Vengeance is Mine, director Shohei Imamura (The Eel, Black Rain) chronicles the true exploits of Japan's 'King of Criminals' Iwao Enokizu, a murderous thief on the run, with an unnerving, observant eye. Presented with documentary-style captions the film moves easily between Iwao's life, interrogation and the police manhunt and is exceptional in its realistic depiction of the life of a murderer. This realism exposes a familiar banality within Iwao's despicable actions and scenes of him purchasing the cheapest in a selection of knives for his next kill or a closet door that refuses to stay shut are darkly humorous. As Iwao, Ken Ogata's committed performance is both credible and disturbingly seductive. His childish arrogance and voracious sexual appetite puts him on a razor's edge and he repeatedly and shockingly turns to violence. Remarkably, director Imamura refrains from providing concrete explanations for his anti-hero throughout, alluding only to his dysfunctional family as a possible reason for his extreme sociopathic behaviour.
This is a powerful film, and in its detached morality and heady mix of sex and violence it has clearly influenced the controversial work of directors such as Takeshi Miike and Chan-Wook Park.

Steve Turner on 3rd October 2005

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Film Description

Based on the true story of Iwao Enokizu and his murderous rampage which sparked a 78-day nationwide manhunt, Imamura's disturbing gem 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. With the film unfolding through multiple flashbacks, Ogata delivers a career-defining performance as a day-labourer and smalltime con-artist who, after killing two of his co-workers, embarks on a psychopathic spree of rape and murder.

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