Watches
May 17, 2004
The other half of Eye of the Spider. Shot back to back, with the same cast, this for me is the weaker half of Kurosawa's little experiment. It's an entertaining story with some classic Kurosawa touches, but after having seen the film, there's just very little to come back to. Too much basic narrative, not enough cinematic prowess.
Two guys set out to kidnap a Yakuza member. They believe he has molested and killed the 8-year-old daughter of one of them, but after torturing him for a while it becomes abundantly clear they have the wrong guy. Lucky for them, the Yakuza member sympathizes with their story and he even joins their quest to find the true culprit.
Kurosawa starts mid-story and isn't too keen on fleshing out what happened before, which is an interesting narrative variation. The performances are solid, but the presentation is a little dry and even though I never lost my interest while watching, there isn't much beyond the story being told. It's a decent enough film, but it lacks character, something distinctive that sets it apart from the rest.