The making of a murderer based on a real-life criminal, Shohei Imamura's "Vengeance is Mine" is an almost forensic account of the life of a con-man and multiple killer in Japan in the years between World War II and the sixties. Told in flashback and in non-linear fashion it is less of a thriller and more of a character study with Ken Ogata outstanding as the killer without a conscience but then everyone in this extraordinary film is superb. In some respects it may remind you of John McNaughton's "Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer" but this is much more of an epic, a family saga closer to Dostoevsky. Today it is looked on as something of a cult movie rather than belonging to the mainstream. Seek it out.
Monday, 3 June 2019
VENGEANCE IS MINE
The making of a murderer based on a real-life criminal, Shohei Imamura's "Vengeance is Mine" is an almost forensic account of the life of a con-man and multiple killer in Japan in the years between World War II and the sixties. Told in flashback and in non-linear fashion it is less of a thriller and more of a character study with Ken Ogata outstanding as the killer without a conscience but then everyone in this extraordinary film is superb. In some respects it may remind you of John McNaughton's "Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer" but this is much more of an epic, a family saga closer to Dostoevsky. Today it is looked on as something of a cult movie rather than belonging to the mainstream. Seek it out.
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