VENGEANCE IS MINE
aka FUKUSHÛ SURUWA WARENIARI

Year: 1979
UK: Cult! Film Distribution
Cast: Ken Ogata, Mayumi Ogawa, Renturo Mikuni, Mitsuko Baisho, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Chocho Miyako, Moeko Ezawa, Torahiko Hamada, Shohei Hino, Yoshi Kato, Choichiro Kawarazaki, Kazuo Kitamura, Toshie Negishi, Frankie Sakai, Kazuko Shirakawa, Goro Tarumi, Taiji Tonoyama, Sakae Umezu
Director: Shohei Imamura
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English subtitles)
UK: 140 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains strong violence
UK Release Date: 9 September 2005 (Limited Release - London, ICA)


Synopsis

Japanese New Wave master Shohei Imamura's fascinating, compelling serial-killer film from 1979 finally gets a release in the UK. Ken Ogata plays Iwo Enokizu, the infamous, real-life 'King of Criminals' who in 1963 went on a 78-day murder spree after killing two of his co-workers, avoiding subsequent capture by pretending to be a university professor.

The story is told using a multiple flashback structure that allows Imamura to approach both his main character and Japanese society from numerous angles, while the terrible madness that drove Enokizu to commit his crimes ultimately gives the film a tragic dimension that helps it transcend genre convention. A masterpiece that was five years in the making, Imamura's film easily tops any contemporary thriller in terms of complexity, style and excitement.