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Starring
:
Tadanobu
Asano
Nami
Tsukamoto
Ittoku
Shibise
Kiki
Jun
Kunimura
Go
Riju
Writer
:
Shinya
Tsukamoto
Producer
:
Shinya
Tsukamoto
Ittoku
Shibise
Director
:
Shinya
Tsukamoto
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VITAL
(2004)
Reviewed
by Rob Daniel
Since
his wild, flesh-and-metal fusing debut 'Tetsuo', Shinya
Tsukamoto has matured into a more considered but still daring
filmmaker. His
last three films, 'Gemini', 'A Snake of June' and now 'Vital'
retain themes of alienation, entrapment and anarchic freedom,
but the tempo is more stately and the films offer more than
censor-baiting viscera.
After
a car crash that killed his girlfriend, Hiroshi (a baby-faced
Asano) is left with amnesia, and attempts to recreate his old
life as a medical student to regain his memories.
In a cruel twist, the cadaver he has to dissect is
Ryoko, his girlfriend (Tsukamoto - no relation to the
director). Investigating
the secrets of her body provides clues to his past, but can
Hiroshi decipher between fact and wish-fulfilment, and will
his guilt at beginning a disturbing love affair with fellow
student Ikumi finally destroy him?
An
emotionally potent piece of work, 'Vital' tells a fractured,
engaging story of obsessive love and controlled anguish,
skilfully mixing past and present.
Graphic dissection is there for the gorehounds, but
this is a radical romance.
Hiroshi's love for Ryoko is manifested in his obsessive
dissection of her body and idealized daydreams, while his
relationship with Ikumi, who harbours a death wish, is
consummated through mutual strangulation.
Working
with a typically limited budget, Tsukamoto (who is also his
own editor and cinematographer) restricts the action to a
number of lovingly designed sets (he's also production
designer!), using clever editing and camerawork to keep the
morose story animated. Regular composer Cho Ishikawa contributes a lush, mournful
score, while Asano and Tsukamoto spirited performances convey
a relationship cut short, and Kiki's fragile turn makes Ikumi
as fascinating as the dead Ryoko.
Older actors Kunimura and Kishibe offer old school
support as Ryoko's grieving father and medical professor.
If
'Gemini' was a re-versioning of Tsukamoto's earlier 'Tokyo
Fist', 'Vital' is a similar re-working of 'A Snake of June'.
What happens next is an exciting and frightening
question.
Rating:
 
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