A landmark in the history of Japanese cinema, this was the breakthrough film for director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would go on to make several further modern masterpieces in Pulse, Creepy and Tokyo Sonata. Released to critical acclaim in both the East and the West, this nerve-shredding thriller charts the hunt for a depraved serial killer in a bleak and decaying Tokyo.
A series of murders have been committed by ordinary people who claim to have had no control over their actions, many of them having killed friends, co-workers or even their spouse. There are only two links between each crime: an X carved into the neck of each victim, and a mysterious stranger who seems to have had brief contact with the perpetrator a short period of time before each killing. But to follow these leads and end a seemingly inexplicable wave of terror, police detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) will need to put his own sanity on the line and endure a descent into hell.
Described as one of the greatest films of all time by Bong Joon-ho (Parasite, Memories of Murder), Kurosawa’s masterpiece is a cerebral and deeply unsettling hybrid of police procedural, serial killer film and horror movie.
Also screening as part of Japanese Film club:
Audition, Dir. Takashi Miike – Fri 31 Oct, 8.30pm
One Cut Of The Dead, Dir. Shinichiro Ueda – Sun 2 Nov, 8.30pm
If you have any access requirements, please contact our box office team on 020 7613 7498 or email boxoffice@richmix.org.uk
