Cure

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan

That trailer give away far too much for my liking but it's the best I can do.

I've been severely lacking in my foreign films watching of late. (besides German day the other week). To get this one in I had to disregard my no subtitles after 10:30pm policy and I think I will continue to do so because I miss my foreign films. But you need to be able to really sit down and watch them and lately I've taken to watching films while I work. So I'm very glad I got this one in here, it's one of my all time favourites.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a fascinating director. This film plays out like Seven as shot by Michael Hanake. A very strange and creepy twist on a serial killer procedural shot in a very detached and objective style leaving a lot of the heavy lifting up to the audience. It's deceptively simple, no score for the most part, scenes play out in long static shots and yet it has some of the creepiest and suspenseful moments in any serial killer film I've seen of late. It does so mainly through great acting and very precise editing. The film almost manages to mirror it's thematic content in that way which is just astounding. Purposefully numb, devoid of emotion towards it's subjects and yet mesmerising, hypnotic...

It's very hard to describe, it's much better if you just watch the film. Please watch this film. And any of his other films, they are well worth your time and effort to track down, even his j-horror efforts like Pulse and Retribution. But this is by far his masterpiece for me. And it finally got a dvd release in Australia, so no excuses. It's a definite must see for me. Even if you hate it, it's worth it.