Review of Himizu (2012) by Alexander R — 18 Aug 2012

There is Sumida, and his stalker, François Villon plays a part, Hitler not so much, some disaster victims, a couple of seriously disfunctional families, the yakuza, some crazy people, dead people, lots of punching, slapping and blood, and the ending is not what you think it will be, depending on what you think the ending will be.

And there's mud; lots and lots of mud. While there are no talking animals, or flying cars, and it's not in 3D, this must be one of the more captivating recent movies, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss a minute of it.

Keiko-the-stalker's character comes across as obsessed but smart and caring (she has her own horrible backstory), and is played brilliantly - you may find yourself routing for her throughout. The plot is all a bit chaotic, with a few surprising twists, and has been described elsewhere.

Utterly watchable. My favourite is Keiko's Villon recital in the rain, and Sumida's smart put down of the teacher's enthusiastic motivational speech. Watch it to know what this refers to.