Review of Violence at Noon (1966) by Greg W — 21 Feb 2012

I've been grinding through the Nagisa Oshima catalog for the past year or so, and "Violence at High Noon" was the last of his major films that I checked off.

Sorry to say that I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped. Much of the film's renown comes from its quick editing -- over 2,000 shots in all, according to whoever had the patience to count. But in this age of hyperactive, high-tech thrillers, the cuts aren't as jarring as they would have been in 1966. At this point, what's more notable is that no other Oshima movie is cut this way and, in fact, he has films such as "The Ceremony" that rely on unusually *long* shots.

"Violence at High Noon" opens with an intense, nine-minute sequence of a home invasion that leads to one woman being raped and another being murdered (both crimes occur off-camera -- no need to shield your eyes). From there, much of the story occurs in flashback. The attacker, Eisuke, is his victim's former lover. He has assaulted numerous women, and the police are on his trail. He is married to Matsuko, but the two have been apart due to his outlaw lifestyle. The raped woman, Shino, also was briefly married to Genji, a man who committed suicide for weakly defined reasons. Previously, Genji was involved with Matsuko too. All four characters once worked together in some failed, agricultural commune, but whatever insinuations Oshima is making about organized youth in Japan (a dominant concern of his work) are subordinate to the more specific tale of a crime spree.

Really, the above covers most of the story -- the film gives background more than it advances a plot. The script does not focus on Eisuke's mayhem but rather the reactions of Shino and Matsuko. Both women know he is the culprit whom the police seek, but wrestle with their consciences about whether to report him or not.

Kei Sato and Saeda Kawaguchi are excellent as Eisuke and Shino and they need to be, since so many harsh closeups force them to act with their faces alone. Akiko Koyama (Matsuko) is also quite good with her edgy air of smiling distress, but has a less demanding role.

I anticipated a more shocking, flamboyant film -- perhaps with a virtuoso, lightning sequence that did for rape what the shower scene of "Psycho" did for murder. "Violence at High Noon" does not supply this, but it does dig into some interesting, volatile characters.