Cure (1997)

A wave of gruesome murders is sweeping Tokyo. The only connection is a bloody X carved into the neck of each of the victims. In each case, the murderer is found near the victim and ... See full summary »

Director:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writers:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (novel), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay)

Stars:

Masato Hagiwara, Kôji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki

9 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

A wave of gruesome murders is sweeping Tokyo. The only connection is a bloody X carved into the neck of each of the victims. In each case, the murderer is found near the victim and remembers nothing of the crime. Detective Takabe and psychologist Sakuma are called in to figure out the connection, but their investigation goes nowhere. An odd young man is arrested near the scene of the latest murder, who has a strange effect on everyone who comes into contact with him. Detective Takabe starts a series of interrogations to determine the man's connection with the killings.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | investigation | interrogation | slasher flick | neo noir | 

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Taglines:

Madness. Terror. Murder.

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Cowboy Pictures - synopsis, etc. [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Spanish

Release Date:

27 December 1997 (Japan)

Also Known As:

A Cura

Filming Locations:

Shirasato Beach, Shirasato, Chiba, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,879 (USA) (6 July 2001)

Gross:

$94,596 (USA) (7 December 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In Japan, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. In every scene in this picture that's the case - except one. When the detective leaves in his car to go to the hospital because Mimiya has turned up there, the steering wheel is on the left and he drives on the right side of the road.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, with the exception of the movie's title.

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Connections

References Hana-bi (1997)

User Reviews

Possibly the spookiest movie I have ever seen.

The only time I can recall being as spooked by a film was when my parents took me to see "Hangover Square" - a gothic Jack the Ripper thriller - when I was 8 years old. I guess they couldn't find a baby-sitter. That took me about a year to get over, a low-key, all-too-realistic chiller about the banality of insanity.

"Cure" is such a perfect depiction of madness that just about every shot could be framed & hung in a gallery. You can't analyze this one, it doesn't follow a cartesian line of logic; nor does it blast you with halloweenish surprises in the style of Elm Street & its knock-offs. This has far deeper & subtler impact. I found as I relaxed into this film that images of recurring dreams & nightmares I've had since childhood arose & blended into what I was watching. Can't get much creepier than that.

That said, the images & emotions that this film evokes are on a very high level of poetic art. One of the most impressive elements of "Cure" is the director's ability to convey the magnetic manipulative appeal of Mamiya - surely one of the scariest things in real life & very difficult to convincingly convey on screen.