Movies

A wave of murders has recently hit Tokyo, each victim having a large 'X' cut deeply into their chests. The interesting this is, each culprit is a different person. The case goes to a detective named Takabe (played by the brilliant Koji Yakusho), and he must investigate. During his investigation, he finds Mamiya, a man who seemingly has no memory of his life. Takabe realizes there's something strange about Mamiya..."Cure" was Kiyoshi Kurosawa's first major success. It's a complex and dark film about hypnosis, which is at times, pretty unsettling and chilling. This is a little different than Kurosawa's later works, but all his signature methods are here: the unsettling atmosphere, the suspense, the unusual complexity of the characters, and slow pacing. Still, if you liked any of this director's other movies, this is highly recommended.My rating: 8/10.

Excellent and provocative outing from the likeable and intelligent, Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Made after a run of smaller 'straight to video' yakuza and the like movies, this was an early break for something better and is a great success. Staring the equally likeable Koji Yakusho, who would go on to work several times with Kurosawa, who seemed attracted partly by the fact they were the same age. The film begins and continues for some time as a beautifully shot bur scary exercise as people drop dead, seemingly inexplicably and an aura of surrealist mayhem develops. There is a slowing in proceedings while the main protagonist is investigated but interest is well maintained ahead of the fine denouement.

This movie is not all bad. It has a Japanese version of Charles Manson doing some influencing, without drugs, and shows effectively that Japanese justice system was far more reasonable than that of California, citing inciting to murder and actually INVESTIGATING what really happens. The plot is somewhat fanciful, and is inspired by a real cult and Sarin gas attacks, the atmosphere and film-making techniques are on par with anything from the era, but the movie does come off as somewhat pedestrian, boring and not really a master peace. Still, not too shabby.