The Eel

viewed July 1, 2000 on VHS   Full Details

Shohei Inamura, one of the elder statesmen of Japanese cinema, creates an oddly engrossing tale of a man's re-entry into society after serving time for killing his wife.  Loaded with unexpected outbursts of sex and violence, the film is nonetheless carried by a strangely enjoyable narrative and a charismatic lead.  The film makes marked shifts in tone from that of a bloody graphic novel to a whimsical small-town comedy to a wacky Almodovaran farce, which don't sit well with my particular tastes (I just can't reconcile the brutal opening scene with the utter silliness of the climax), but the general sensibility is something to reckon with.  I plan to check out Inamura's other recent hit, Dr. Akagi, sometime.

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