This is a masterpiece!
I was glued to the screen for more than two hours when I watched Vengeance is Mine. This is now one of my all-time favorite films (and one of Roger Ebert's "great movies"). I am having difficulty conveying why I loved this film so much. Aside from the great cinematography, story, directing, and acting, there is something else special here. It is one of those extremely rare films which I knew I was going to love as soon as it started. It continued to get better and better with each minuet. Maybe it was the sheer originality of this Japanese masterpiece... Anyway, I would urge every film-lover to see "Vengeance is mine" as soon as possible.

Portrait of an unrepentant killer
We like killers. Not your run-of-the-mill murderer thugs or violence-prone thieves who kill for profit, but the inverted psyche of serial killers is a fascinating subject. They hold the fascination of a predator species, like the great white shark or the alligator, dangerous and somehow cool. We don't want to meet them, and hope to god that they never walk though our door, but from the safety of a screen it is a thrill to flirt with their danger and ride along with them for a little while down a truly dark path. Especially in the hands of a master director like Shohei Imamura.

"Vengeance is Mine" ("Fukushu suruwa wareniari") is Imamura's take on Japanese serial killer and fraudster Akira Nishiguchi who went on a 78-day killing spree in 1964, claiming the lives of five people before being captured. Re-named to Iwao Enokizu in the film, he is a cold and reptilian character, able to lie and murder without any apparent shadow of a conscious, only taking the actions that advance his needs at any given moment. A rare Catholic in Japan, Iwao is an outsider, but not a loner, and he keeps companions for as long as he needs them.

Considering the source material, Imamura maintains an almost documentary-like feel throughout the film, as emotionless and reptilian as the killer himself. This is not the "serial killer as hero" motif of "Natural Born Killers", or even an attempt to explain and empathize as in "Monster". The camera takes no opinions, offers no point of view other than "These things happen", "This is life, and these things happen". The beast that is Iwao seems to take neither pleasure nor pain, just sensation, from his activities. He plays his game without passion, and that makes it all the more chilling.

The Criterion Collection DVD maintains the usual high standards expected, with two interviews with Imamura, and an essay by critic Michael Atkinson. The picture and sound are all of the best quality, and the film is pure 5-star Imamura.

The human animal forgoes art
A film which holds your attention for all of its 140minutes, Vengeance is Mine prompts the audience to consider the question of art and reality. Art, given that cinema is accepted as a significant art form, cannot replicate reality in any way, though it can create a semblance of reality. Visually, Andy Warhol tried to replicate time in cinema in his film of the Empire State building. In his way, Director Imamura tries to replicate the reality of human feelings in a range of ordinary Japanese which is to say, the characters are not depicted in any sentimental or romantic way, but revealed, as one of the characters says "as animals", as "human animals" driven by their appetites, by greed, by envy. Sex and death feature prominently as subjects throughout the film and Imamura draws the connection between erotic feelings and death quite remarkably well. It is a cinema of the power and beauty of the themes of sex and death, and whilst there are the signs of civilization, in particular the influence of Christianity, the raw depiction of human appetites dominates the film with considerable visual power. The characters seem to give into their feelings and needs even when faced with the horror of a multiple murderer - Iwao's lover just wants to serve him and service him, whilst the police are drawn to his wit and charm - characters divorced of any moral compass. A brilliant work.

a murderer on the loose.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Based on a true story, Vengeance is Mine which was released in Japan as "Fukushû suruwa wareniari" is about serial killer on the from police. The killer later visits a brothel and begins a relationship with one of the women there.

The film was directed by famed Japanese director Shohei Imamura.

The special features are a theatrical and teaser trailer and an interview with Imamura.

The film is well made but the subject matter is for mature audiences.

Savage.
Again, Shohei Imamura's total control of his craft shows itself in his brutal masterpiece Vengeance Is Mine. This true story follows Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata), a con artist, thief and killer. The film starts with Enokizu's capture and uses unusual, but brilliantly effective editing and pacing to unravel the story of his life. We see Enokizu as a troubled boy in a strict Catholic home and turn into a scam artist and womanizer. As an adult Enokizu's resentment towards his religous father is compounded by rumors of an affair with the father and Enokizu's wife. As his hatered grows stronger and his crimes become more serious, we see first hand Enokizu's downward spiral into murder and the devastating consequences for those around him.

The disturbing nature of this film doesn't lie in it's gore factor (there are very few actual murder scenes), but rather with the non-judgemental view taken of the killer. Imamura neither glorifies nor condems Enokizu. He simply lets the character exist, and lets his inherent nihilism reveal itself. This nihilism is something that both Enokizu and the audience must grapple with throughout the film. Ultimately, Enokizu can only kill innocent people, being too much of a coward to face those he truly hates. This is fully realized in two emotionally gutwrenching scenes at the end of the film; one with Enokizu's lover and another with his father.

The family drama, the cat-and-mouse game between Enokizu and the cops, and some interesting third-act revalations make this two hour plus film quite an undertaking. Don't watch it while making dinner. But with the great acting (Ken Ogata especially), outstanding editing, interesting shooting locations and masterful direction, Imamura takes this messy story and turns it into an artistic, esoteric thriller. A sort of japanese Taxi Driver. The ending is pure Imamura; a poetic farewell to Enokizu that is both eerily enigmatic and profoundly meaningful.