Sunday, October 29, 2023

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 29: Cure (1997)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure is a mesmerizing serial killer movie both in plot and in execution. Set in a Tokyo devoid of the color and bustling life its known for, the film center on detective Kenichi Takabe (Kōji Yakusho) and his investigation into a series of grisly killings. Victims are found with large X's carved in their fronts, while the murderers are found nearby, completely unaware of what they've done.

Meanwhile, a young man with amnesia is wandering around the city, perplexing strangers with his inability to answer any questions about himself, while also asking puzzling questions of them. 

The way the murders are filmed, often in longshot, with no edits or build-up, ends up being some of the spookiest violence I've ever seen on screen, and I had to watch the final scene three times because I found it so eerily effective in its simplicity. I had never heard of this movie until this year, but now I'm going to be sure and seek out more of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's work!

I watched Cure on the Criterion Channel.

No comments: