Cure (Kyua)

Release Year: 1997

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa continually exceeds my expectations with his dark, brooding, but always intriguing films.  This is the third film by him which I have seen and with each successive film I get more and more enamored with his work.  'Cure' is a chilling movie about a police detective, Kenich(Koji Yakusho), investigating a string of brutal murders with odd circumstances.  Each murder has a suspect who admits guilt, but can't recall why they killed the victim and why every victim has an 'X' carved into their neck.  As the case unfolds an unusual amnesiac seems to be the only link between the murders.

Alfred Hitchcock was the master of this genre, and while Kurosawa certainly doesn't come close to being at his level, he put up a fine entry.  With this kind of thriller mystery, pacing is the key.  Kurosawa masterfully unwinds the case, revealing more and more with each murder.  As Kenichi learns, so do we.  He allows to think we know what is going on, and while it may be partly the case, its only the tip of the iceberg.  I love the way Kurosawa plays with convention, never letting the viewer get to comfortable.  He is constantly putting in subtle twists, keeping the audience on their toes.

While it works as a thriller mystery, 'Cure' might better fit in the horror genre.  Cultism and hypnotism are central to the plot and they are played out in a very unsettling way.  To think that we could be driven to horrific acts without any control over our behavior is unnerving.  It's physiological torture, an abuse which there is no defense for.  This might be my favorite aspect of 'Cure'.  It's structured as a standard crime mystery, and its not until the end where you realize that you just watched a horror film. 

Kurosawa films always seem to have challenging endings, and he doesn't shy away from this motif here.  For some, his non-satisfying, often confusing, and open ended closures are frustrating and ruin the movie.  I admit, when the credits rolled, my first reaction was of confusion and then of frustration.  As I sat and reflected later, however, I formulated an interpretation which was satisfying to me.  By letting the audience discuss and come up with their own interpretation it makes the movie all that more powerful and rewarding.  'Cure' rocketed to the top of my favorite Kurosawa list, and ranks high among my favorite horror films.  It's that good.
Rating: 4/5

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime)

Release Year: 1997

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Review: There is a simple honesty in Miyazaki's filmmaking which makes his films feel special and connect more on a personal level.  In 'Princess Mononoke', Miyazaki's trademark fantastic imagination is almost reigned in to present a more down to earth, humanistic, tail of harmony.  It would be easy to write off Mononoke as a environmental propaganda, but there is much more here. All characters are fully developed and there are good and bad parts to all of them.  There is no single 'evil' or 'good' force here, except for perhaps Ashitaka, who is the neutral balance. Each group has their race's best intentions at heart, and rather than giving a one sided account to the story, all sides are shown, and the need for peace is augmented by showing the world in this light.

Watching the dubbed version, was a mistake I believe.  Every time I heard Billy Bob Thorton's voice it completely took me out of Miyazaki's carefully constructed fantasy world.  It's a double edged sword, either you put on the subtitles and miss some of the beauty of the animation from reading, or you put on the dubbing and get taken out by rather poor voice acting.  In the end, its a solid story, and thats what really matters.  I don't think it's the most brilliantly imagined work by Miyazaki.  I was never blown away, or totally engrossed, and yet it still has that Miyazaki essence which makes it so endearing.
Rating: 3.5/5

Life Is Beautiful

Release Year: 1997
Review: About life as a Jew in Nazi Germany, this film never the less is about happiness and love. It manages to take such a terrible time in the world's history and somehow makes it about a father's love for his child. This is a wonderful film. If only all children had a father like Guido.
Rating: 5/5