Review of Vengeance Is Mine (1979) by Steve W — 19 Dec 2015

Imamura's true crime film is extrapolated from a book based on authentic transcripts from the case of a serial killer in 1960s Japan. Yet, it seems to occupy some other private and personal space that transcripts would not describe.

Not that we get any insights into the motives of the killer - although a few possibilities are tossed around: his family's Catholicism with its strict moral codes and minority/outcast status in Japan; his father's inability to stand up to wartime military transgressions and suspected further hypocrisies; and/or the cultural void left in Japan after the war, surrender, and imported dominance of American-styled capitalism.

However, these hints are far from clear. Mostly, we see Ken Ogata as the amoral lead character, both in the present, being interrogated by police, and in the past, travelling Japan as a con-man who occasionally and inexplicably murders.

He also has an insatiable appetite for sex. At one point, he seems to form a bond with a woman (Mayumi Ogawa) who runs an inn whose mother had been in prison for murder - maybe they both feel disillusioned with parents/family life.

However, it doesn't end well for her...or him. Any vengeance is reserved for the State or God.