Review of Marebito (2004) by Ashley R — 26 Sep 2007

MAREBITO, literally translated as STRANGE PERSON was an interesting and brutal depiction of how a man's compulsion to look at the world through camera lenses and video screens leads to his alienation from humanity and eventual consumption by his own mania, with a twist of the supernatural.

This movie makes me recall a couple of other dual-reality premises, SILENT HILL and THE FOUNTAIN. They also get the viewer questioning how much of what they are watching is supposed to be reality and what parts are fantasy.

It all starts out when the male lead watches a video of a person committing suicide. This experience sends him on a quest to try to document, with his video camera, an image of true terror. He wanders his way through the japanese subway to some underground ruins and finds a feral woman hiding there, and brings her back to his room for study. He later finds that this woman refuses to eat anything aside from blood, with a preference for human over animal. The main character allows her to drink his blood, but eventually kills to collect human blood for her as well.

Another subplot involves a strange woman trying to find her missing daughter. It is inferred that the woman is the main character's wife, and that they had a child, but the hero vehemently resists this.

Whether the blood sucking girl inhabiting his apartment is an allegory for the family dynamic is up for grabs, but nevertheless I found this to be an intensely moody and atmospheric psycho-supernatural drama, with excellent acting throughout, particularly by Tomomi Miyashita, the strange girl in the apartment.

I highly recommend this film to those who enjoyed the original RINGU, JU-ON, or even the movie SESSION 9 for its atmosphere and vision of insanity.