VITAL

Year: 2004
UK: Tartan Films
Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Nami Tsukamoto, Kiki, Kazuyoshi Kushida, Lily, Hana Kino, GO Rijû, Jun Kunimura, Ittoku Kishibe, Masato Tsujioka
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English subtitles)
UK: 86 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains asphyxiative practices
UK Release Date: 14 October 2005 (Limited Release - wider)
UK Release Date: 30 September 2005 (Limited Release - London)

(in Japanese)

Synopsis

After barely surviving an auto accident, in which his girlfriend was killed, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano - ICHI THE KILLER, ZATOICHI, CAFE LUMIERE) is unable to remember his former life. During his convalescence, all that comes back to him is his love of medicine, prompting him to enrol in medical school.

While in anatomy class, as students dissect a human body for the first time, Hiroshi's memory of his lost lover is reawakened when her body turns up on his dissection table...

For director Shinya Tsukamoto "the flesh" is an important motif in his creative works. VITAL was winner of the Silver Raven at the Brussels International Fantasy Film Festival 2004 and was also a winner of the New Visions Award at the Stiges Film Festival 2004