Review of Vengeance Is Mine (1979) by Roger T — 06 Mar 2009

Not as brutal as "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer", but not as sophisticated as "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Vengence is Mine is the story of a con man, theif, and murderer (not serial killer, theres nothing ritual about any of it), during 78 day manhunt to find him. The film also shows moments from Enokizu's youth, and has two sub-plots one about his Catholic father and wife, resisting their attraction to each other, the other about a mother and daughter who run a brothel, where Enokizu' sometimes stays.

Criterion Collection dvd came with an interview with the directer where he says his only interest in films are people, there no nature shots in his films, every frame has human actions. His interests are not moral, he's interested his characters feelings, thoughts, sex lives, their everyday habits, but that's it.

No cop hot on the trail, no great explanation for how he has come to this (Why so serious?), no guilty confession. It's a character driven story about a sociopath, at times charming, at others brutish, and still others pent up and pathetic (the final father son scene).

A very intense, unexpectedly humanistic, and well made film. I watched it again, and had a better experience than the first round. It gave me a reserved intense, "No Country For Old Men" vibe at times, but without the exestential coin toss stuff, so much better.