It’s
all about the red herrings. Three young men happen to bear a resemblance to the
vague descriptions of a notorious killer following his plastic surgery. In one
case, it is because he is indeed Yamaguchi, the murderer of a suburban couple.
The other two have the misfortune of being socially awkward and having the wrong
kind of look. Those who had just started to trust the three mystery loners will
begin to suspect they might be the killer in Lee Sang-il’s Rage (trailer
here),
which screens during this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.
You
do not have to explain the evil men are capable of to Yohei Maki. He has just
rescued his runaway daughter from enslavement in a sex club, where she was
horribly abused. He is trying to provide a low stress environment that
resembles normalcy for Aiko, so he doesn’t object when she commences a
relationship with his quiet, new part-timer, Tetsuya Tashiro. Frankly, he is
probably the only young man in their provincial seaside town who will look past
her notorious past.
Meanwhile,
in Tokyo, Yuma Fujita has a decidedly unromantic meeting with the
sort-of-willing Naoto Onishi is a gay bath house. Despite staying resolutely in
the closet as far as his business associates and college friends are concerned,
Fujita takes the unsophisticated Onishi home with him. While he successfully
grooms the young outsider into the sort of companion he desires, he never fully
trusts him.
Our
third suspect will be Shingo Tanaka, a backpacker squatting in an abandoned
bunker on a small, deserted isle in the Okinawas. Izumi Komiya and Tatsuya
Chinen happen upon him when they arrive one day for a picnic. Unfortunately, their
story will take terrible detour when Komiya is assaulted by two G.I.s late one
night on the streets of Naha.
It
is remarkable how convincingly Lee’s adaptation of Shuichi Yoshida’s novel
casts suspicion on each of the three lone wolves. Lee never really gives us the
clues to unmask the killer on our own, because the whole point is to experience
the uncertainty and paranoia. Tsuyoshi Imai’s editing rather brilliantly serves
that purpose.
Ken
Watanabe also once again proves he is one of the best in the business when not
making massive Hollywood tent-poles. There is a poignant simplicity to his performance
as Maki, the desperately concerned father that will hit viewers on a deep
level. Likewise, the deceptive power of Aoi Miyzaki portrayal of Aiko Maki make
the coastal Chiba segments the most emotionally involving. Still, Suzu Hirose
is heartbreakingly innocent and vulnerable as Komiya.
Ironically,
Go Ayano and Kenichi Matsuyama are largely forced into one-note performances
Onishi and Tashiro to maintain suspicions, whereas Mirai Moriyama is allowed more
flamboyance as Tanaka. Poor Pierre Taki is admirably salty and world weary as
Kunihisa Nanjo, the senior detective working the original double-homicide, but
he is largely crowded out of his screen time by the three suspects and their
story arcs. It really is tough to be a public servant, isn’t it?
