|
Cold Fish
| Released |
8 April 2011 |
| Director |
Sion Soo |
Starring
|
Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Tetsu Watanabe, Hikari Kajiwara, Megumi Kagurazaka, Denden |
| Writer(s) |
Sion Sono, Yoshiki Takahashi |
| Producer(s) |
Yoshinori Chiba, Toshiki Kimura |
| Origin |
Japan |
| Running Time |
144 minutes |
| Genre |
Drama, thriller |
| Rating |
tbc |
|
|
Monsters of the deep.
Cold Fish opens with a soundtrack of pounding, rhythmic drums and slashed titles proclaiming that what we are about to see is based on true events- a red herring (if you’ll pardon the pun) to keep us on our toes. This visual and aural barrage is not representative of the tone of the movie that will follow. Cold Fish is more of a slow burner than one would expect and though at just under two and half hours it feels a little long, it is a very clever movie indeed. Director Sion Sono (Love Exposure) cements his reputation for highbrow trash as he uses this time to make the viewer as deeply uncomfortable as possible- primarily in the excruciating repression of its “hero” and the deeply disturbing world he and his family are lured into. When the sudden blasts of gore and depravity come (and they are indeed stomach-churning), they have much more impact as a consequence.
And the cleverness doesn’t stop there! Although Cold Fish could ostensibly be described as a serial killer movie it also has swathes of social commentary to get your teeth into; this is a post-modern Jekyll and Hyde tale played out against the pressures placed on men in Japanese society to excel. These are pressures that Nobuyuki Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) feels keenly. A meek, shadow of a man, he ekes a meagre living from his small exotic fish shop, is ignored and disrespected by his teenage daughter and cannot assert himself sexually with his young second wife. When the charismatic Yukio Murata (Denden) enters his life by chance, these insecurities grow. Murata has found more wealth and success in the field of exotic fish trading and has the kind of confidence Shamoto could only dream of. From the audience’s point of view meanwhile, Murata represents the depths of what man is capable of when he completely discards all feelings of responsibility and operates purely on ego. His almost hysterical bonhomie only makes Murata more terrifying and it isn’t long before he reveals his dark side. Laying claim to both Shamoto’s daughter (to whom he offers a job) and his wife (who he violently seduces), he then forces him to become an accomplice to his grisly routine of serial murder.
Reminiscent of last year’s We Are What We Are, Cold Fish delivers a feast of gore and black comedy in such a bleak, nihilistic package that it will stay with you long after the credits roll. It’s not pleasant but it’s certainly effective.
-
Linda O’Brien |
