Cure (1997)

Director:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writers:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (novel)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 July 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Madness. Terror. Murder.

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...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Investigation | Interrogation | Criminal | Hotel

Awards:

9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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
Tsuyoshi Mikami	...	Truck Driver
Makoto Kakeda	...	Policeman at the Hotel
Yasujiro Tamura	...	Middle-Aged Man at Dry Cleaners
Yasuharu Sato	...	Dry Cleaners Employee
Shinichiro Inoue	...	Dr. Miyajima's Young Patient
Yuri Shimada	...	Nurse
Kae Egawa	...	Waitress
Mitsuyo Suwa	...	Hotel Murder Victim
Tetsushi Tanaka
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kazutaka Arayama	...	Police Detective at the Hotel
Emiko Hattori	...	Suzu Murakawa
Setchin Kawaya	...	Kakarikan #1
Takayuki Konishi	...	Kakarikan #2
Kae Minami
Tarô Suwa	...	Apâto no shachô
Hiromi Suzuki
Makoto Togashi	...	Policeman
Masato Yamaji	...	Police Detective
Yuu Yamazaki

Directed by
Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa		novel
Kiyoshi Kurosawa		screenplay

Produced by
Tetsuya Ikeda	....	producer
Satoshi Kanno	....	producer
Hiroyuki Kato	....	executive producer
Shigeo Minakami	....	co-producer
Atsuyuki Shimoda	....	producer
Tsutomu Tsuchikawa	....	producer

Original Music by
Gary Ashiya

Cinematography by
Tokushô Kikumura

Film Editing by
Kan Suzuki

Production Design by
Tomoyuki Maruo

Makeup Department
Yûichi Matsui	....	special makeup effects artist

Sound Department
Hiromichi Kori	....	sound

Production Companies

• Code Red
• Daiei Studios

Distributors

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (1997) (Japan) (all media)
• Cowboy Booking International (2001) (USA) (subtitled)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Janus Films (1997) (USA) (TV)
• MK2 Diffusion (France)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Mediatres Estudio (2007) (Spain) (all media)
• Pioneer LDC (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Shôchiku Eiga
• Tartan Video (2007) (UK) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

111 min | Taiwan:115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

France:-12 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Australia:MA (2010)

Filming Locations:

Shirasato Beach, Shirasato, Chiba, Japan

Company:

Code Red

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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.

Movie Connections:

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

An interesting and gripping film

A wave of murders has recently hit Tokyo, each victim having a large 'X' cut deeply into their chests. The interesting this is, each culprit is a different person. The case goes to a detective named Takabe (played by the brilliant Koji Yakusho), and he must investigate. During his investigation, he finds Mamiya, a man who seemingly has no memory of his life. Takabe realizes there's something strange about Mamiya...

"Cure" was Kiyoshi Kurosawa's first major success. It's a complex and dark film about hypnosis, which is at times, pretty unsettling and chilling. This is a little different than Kurosawa's later works, but all his signature methods are here: the unsettling atmosphere, the suspense, the unusual complexity of the characters, and slow pacing. Still, if you liked any of this director's other movies, this is highly recommended.

My rating: 8/10.