IMDb > Cure (1997)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   2,377 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (novel)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Cure on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 July 2001 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Madness. Terror. Murder. more
Plot:
A wave of gruesome murders is sweeping Tokyo. The only connection is a bloody X carved into the neck of each of the victims... more | add synopsis
Awards:
9 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(15 articles)
400 Screens, 400 Blows - Asian Melodramas
 (From Cinematical. 20 September 2009, 7:03 AM, PDT)

Still Talking (to Hirokazu Kore-eda)
 (From GreenCine Daily. 22 August 2009, 1:37 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
unsettling more (40 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Kôji Yakusho ... Kenichi Takabe
Masato Hagiwara ... Kunio Mamiya
Tsuyoshi Ujiki ... Makoto Sakuma
Anna Nakagawa ... Fumie Takabe
Yoriko Douguchi ... Dr. Akiko Miyajima
Yukijirô Hotaru ... Ichiro Kuwano
Denden ... Oida
Ren Ôsugi ... Fujiwara
Masahiro Toda ... Tôru Hanaoka
Misayo Haruki ... Tomoko Hanaoka
Shun Nakayama ... Kimura
Akira Otaka ... Yasukawa
Shogo Suzuki ... Tamura
Toshi Kato ... Psychiatrist
Hajime Tanimoto ... Takabe no shachô
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Cure (International: English title)
Kyua (Japan) (alternative title)
The Cure (UK)
more
Runtime:
111 min | Taiwan:115 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Continuity: When the detective first goes to Mamiya's apartment, the landlord tells him he has not seen Mamiya for six months. Yet, when the detective enters the dark, long deserted apartment, the "lab" animals are still perfectly healthy. No explanation is offered as to how they survived with their owner gone for so long. more
Movie Connections:
References The Silence of the Lambs (1991) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
unsettling, 21 February 2002
Author: superfly-13

In the wake of the sarin-gas attack mounted by the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, horror films enjoyed a sudden spurt of popularity in Japan. Many of the films focus on hypnosis or media-induced violence, the fragile normalcy of modern life, and grisly deeds committed by seemingly ordinary citizens. This unnerving 1997 thriller, which seems like a direct response to the Aum Shinrikyo incident, offers a glimpse of how our own national cinema may absorb the blow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A rash of senseless murders wracks Tokyo; the victims have deep X-shaped gashes across their throats, and the killers (often their loved ones) are found in a daze. The only connection appears to be a mysterious drifter (Masato Hagiwara) who gets into random strangers' heads with a single, oft-repeated question: "Who are you?" What makes this subtle, quiet shocker so unsettling is the idea that everyone has secret resentments that render him or her hypnotically pliable--that everyone harbors some glimmer of murderous rage that can be exploited, whether by a drifter or by religious extremists. The writer-director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a prolific Japanese filmmaker who's developing a large cult following here, heightens the unease with buzzing soundtrack noise and eerie long takes that leave us consistently unprepared for the violence to come. And the last sequence will leave people arguing--it requires close attention, culminating in an ending even more disturbing in its implications than the conclusion of SEVEN.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Cure (1997)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
No remakes please! The original is brilliant! GrigoryGirl
You all have it wrong. *Spoiler Alert* IncognitoG
Audio Ribtim
budget - 10k? Kungfuzombie3000
Will this ever be on TV again? CyberGhostface-1
Spoiler alert: The ending? Shijuro
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