- Sensibility: The film dabbles in possession and hypnosis leading to some obviously challenging realities. However, after embracing this reality, the film is
quite sensibly portrayed.
- Cinematography: Unbelievable shot-making. Almost every scene in this film is so well set, framed, lit, and choreographed that it is unforgettable. This is the absolute apogee of production design; the locations, sets, and buildings are all haunting, striking, and set the tone for every scene before it even begins.
- Energy: The film labor a bit with the repetition around amnesia, but that is all in an effort to build perhaps the most haunting, possessive imagery ever created on film.
- Narrative: Brilliant juxtaposition and character growth throughout, all told through masterful subtleties. Parallels between the detectives' work and home lives gives incredible meaning and stakes to all their choices. The ending is so gratifying and yet shocking and horrifying all at once, a combination that can only be captured through excellent portrayal of deep and complex characters.
- T-Points: The film received five bonus points: one for a scene with a watery hypnosis in a hospital, one for a rapid-sequence set of visions/imagery of a monkey while Takabe is on the phone, one for Takabe's vision of his hanging wife, one for a reveal of an X on Sakuma's wall, and one for an entire ending sequence in an abandoned warehouse.
This film is brilliant. It feels criminal to only give it 5 bonus points, when there are so many more note-worthy elements, like the comparison shots of Takabe at a restaurant before and after the investigation, a shot of him clearing the fog off a car-window to see, the entire scene where Takabe first visits Mamiya in his cell, and the production design on the whole. One of my all-time favorites
and probably should be regarded as one of the best films ever made.
Number of Watches: 1
