SYNOPSIS:
Middle school teacher Yoko Moriguchi's (Takako Matsu) life
comes crashing down after the murder of her 4 year old daughter.
Eventually Yoko Moriguchi suspects some of her own students
to have been responsible for her daughter's death. An elaborate
plan for revenge then ensues, including forcing students to
drink HIV tainted milk...
MOVIE REVIEW:
Fwah – that’s the only word that we could utter when the end credits of this Japanese film started rolling. If you haven’t already heard, the official entry from Japan for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards (a pity that it didn’t even make it to the final five) is a mind blowing piece of work by Tetsuya Nakashima based on the novel by Kane Minato. It stars the luminous Takako Matsu (Villon’s Wife, The Hidden Blade) as a teacher in a junior high school. Sounds harmless enough? Wait till you hear what she is up to.
The film begins with her announcing to her class that she will soon be resigning. She then reveals that her daughter was killed by two students in the class, “Student A” and “Student B”. She goes on to say that she had injected her dead husband’s HIV contaminated blood into the milk which the murderers have just drunk from. If you don’t consider this an absurd setup for the opening scene of a movie, we don’t know what is.
What follows is a series of events described from several of the key characters’ first person perspective. To sum it up, this thriller is about a mother who wants nothing but to avenge her dead daughter through a twisted master plan.
To simply put it, this is a work of art. Eye catching and impressive cinematography is complemented with an interesting score (listen out for Radiohead’s “Last Flowers to Hospital”) in this 106 minute production. You can imagine every image being treated with a brushstroke which results in a film that is nothing short of breathtaking – and we are only talking about the production values here.
The storyline grips you from the minute the film starts and doesn’t let go till the last minute. You find yourself caring for every character, whether main or supporting, as their stories are disclosed through a series of narration. In each and every one of them, there is a tragic human drama which we can draw close connections to in our modern society.
Matsu is perfect in her role as the grieving mother, and one can feel her pain which translates into cold bloodedness as the film progresses. The supporting cast of teenage actors turns in particularly commendable performances too. One can almost feel their eyes crying out for help in certain key scenes. The poignant sequences are a social commentary of the current state of things, and you would have to be an unfeeling human being not to be affected by the film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains a Trailer and a Photo Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The movie's visual transfer is clear and pristine, and you can watch it in its original 5.1 Dolby Digital Japanese audio track.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review by John Li
Posted on 10 April 2011
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