divemaster13
Member: Rank 4
For Monday's review, I present to you Angel Dust (1994).
Previous reviews:
2/13: A Tale of Two Sisters
2/20: Comrades, Almost a Love Story
2/27: A Chinese Tall Story
3/6: The Mystery of Rampo
3/9: Clean
3/13: The Bride with White Hair
3/20: No Blood, No Tears
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Angel Dust (1994)
Directed by Sogo Ishii
Starring Kaho Minami, Takeshi Wakamatsu, and Etsushi Toyokawa
In Japanese with English subtitles
Film: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
If, like me, you got interested in Asian film back in the VHS days, you probably spent a lot of time scouring the Blockbusters and Hollywoods and independents for whatever cool-looking stuff you could find. Perhaps it was anime, or maybe kung-fu, or older period pieces by Kurosawa. One day, on my own quest, I saw an intriguing-looking tape of a movie titled Angel Dust. The accompanying promo material referred to it as “The Japanese Silence of the Lambs.”
It’s really not, however. Yes, the two films share a basic plot: an attractive female detective/ psychologist tracks a serial killer while tapping into the talents of a manipulative mentor type to help get into the killer’s mind in order to catch him. But the similarities pretty much end there. There are elements of a whodunit and we get just enough police procedural to keep us on track, but those expecting a big-star Hollywood type production like Silence of the Lambs, or a trendy, graphic thriller like Tell Me Something or The Chaser will probably be disappointed.
But if you enjoy the psychological aspects of a hunt for a serial killer; think that a secluded brainwashing clinic can be a creepy setting; and appreciate mood, atmosphere, and symbolism over jump scenes and gore, then I suggest that you seek out this little-known film.
Every Monday at 6:00 PM a 20-something girl drops dead right in the middle of the crowded Tokyo subway. The killer’s predictability is more than offset by his elusiveness. Meanwhile, we are introduced to our detective, Setsuko Suma. Described as an “analyst on abnormal criminal personalities,” she seems to be a cross between a psychic and an empath and is driven to get into the mind of the killer in order to stop him. However, Suma is no confident and strong Clarice Starling. In fact, she is barely hanging on to her sanity, and we get the feeling that the efforts of the investigation just might tip her over the edge, if not kill her. Suma has frequent nightmares and fugue states. In these she finds herself descending into a cave (her nightmares? her memories? a trap from which there is no escape?). The symbolism is effective.
To complicate matters, her investigation leads her to a former mentor and lover (Rei Aku), a mysterious renegade psychologist who has set up a “reverse brainwashing” clinic known as a “Re-freezing Psychorium.” We aren’t quite sure if the mind games he draws Suma into serve the purpose of helping her in her quest, or something more diabolical. In any event he is always several steps ahead of her and she finds herself psychologically and emotionally at his mercy once he gets into her head.
Something that impressed me greatly about Angel Dust was the visual style and the director’s stylistic touches. The look of the film is grainy and washed out. The Tokyo of Angel Dust is bleak and full of urban decay that hangs like an oppressive weight over everything. The color palette tends toward sepia and a pale industrial green that will have you thinking about basement cafeterias, hospital corridors, and flickering fluorescent lighting.
We are treated to some interesting visuals, and I firmly believe the sound editor must be a genius. (I can hear you saying it now--“Oh great...divemaster’s going off on the sound editing, that’s like telling me the sister has a great personality”). No, no, really. It’s very effective, including the use of an atonal synthesizer that really complements the production design.
The DVD is non-anamorphic 1.85:1, and the quality of the transfer is rather poor it seems. The DVD is coded as R0, although it says R3 on the case. Audio is Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 with removable English or Chinese subtitles. The subtitles have their share of grammatical and syntactical misconstructions, but nothing too egregious. The only bonus feature is the director’s filmography. Also, the DVD has probably the most uninspired cover art I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame they couldn’t (or didn’t) use the fantastic cover of the VHS.
Previous reviews:
2/13: A Tale of Two Sisters
2/20: Comrades, Almost a Love Story
2/27: A Chinese Tall Story
3/6: The Mystery of Rampo
3/9: Clean
3/13: The Bride with White Hair
3/20: No Blood, No Tears
----------------------------------------------------------
Angel Dust (1994)
Directed by Sogo Ishii
Starring Kaho Minami, Takeshi Wakamatsu, and Etsushi Toyokawa
In Japanese with English subtitles
Film: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
If, like me, you got interested in Asian film back in the VHS days, you probably spent a lot of time scouring the Blockbusters and Hollywoods and independents for whatever cool-looking stuff you could find. Perhaps it was anime, or maybe kung-fu, or older period pieces by Kurosawa. One day, on my own quest, I saw an intriguing-looking tape of a movie titled Angel Dust. The accompanying promo material referred to it as “The Japanese Silence of the Lambs.”
It’s really not, however. Yes, the two films share a basic plot: an attractive female detective/ psychologist tracks a serial killer while tapping into the talents of a manipulative mentor type to help get into the killer’s mind in order to catch him. But the similarities pretty much end there. There are elements of a whodunit and we get just enough police procedural to keep us on track, but those expecting a big-star Hollywood type production like Silence of the Lambs, or a trendy, graphic thriller like Tell Me Something or The Chaser will probably be disappointed.
But if you enjoy the psychological aspects of a hunt for a serial killer; think that a secluded brainwashing clinic can be a creepy setting; and appreciate mood, atmosphere, and symbolism over jump scenes and gore, then I suggest that you seek out this little-known film.
Every Monday at 6:00 PM a 20-something girl drops dead right in the middle of the crowded Tokyo subway. The killer’s predictability is more than offset by his elusiveness. Meanwhile, we are introduced to our detective, Setsuko Suma. Described as an “analyst on abnormal criminal personalities,” she seems to be a cross between a psychic and an empath and is driven to get into the mind of the killer in order to stop him. However, Suma is no confident and strong Clarice Starling. In fact, she is barely hanging on to her sanity, and we get the feeling that the efforts of the investigation just might tip her over the edge, if not kill her. Suma has frequent nightmares and fugue states. In these she finds herself descending into a cave (her nightmares? her memories? a trap from which there is no escape?). The symbolism is effective.
To complicate matters, her investigation leads her to a former mentor and lover (Rei Aku), a mysterious renegade psychologist who has set up a “reverse brainwashing” clinic known as a “Re-freezing Psychorium.” We aren’t quite sure if the mind games he draws Suma into serve the purpose of helping her in her quest, or something more diabolical. In any event he is always several steps ahead of her and she finds herself psychologically and emotionally at his mercy once he gets into her head.
Something that impressed me greatly about Angel Dust was the visual style and the director’s stylistic touches. The look of the film is grainy and washed out. The Tokyo of Angel Dust is bleak and full of urban decay that hangs like an oppressive weight over everything. The color palette tends toward sepia and a pale industrial green that will have you thinking about basement cafeterias, hospital corridors, and flickering fluorescent lighting.
We are treated to some interesting visuals, and I firmly believe the sound editor must be a genius. (I can hear you saying it now--“Oh great...divemaster’s going off on the sound editing, that’s like telling me the sister has a great personality”). No, no, really. It’s very effective, including the use of an atonal synthesizer that really complements the production design.
The DVD is non-anamorphic 1.85:1, and the quality of the transfer is rather poor it seems. The DVD is coded as R0, although it says R3 on the case. Audio is Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 with removable English or Chinese subtitles. The subtitles have their share of grammatical and syntactical misconstructions, but nothing too egregious. The only bonus feature is the director’s filmography. Also, the DVD has probably the most uninspired cover art I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame they couldn’t (or didn’t) use the fantastic cover of the VHS.
