Akumu Tantei (2006)

Director:

Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer:

Shinya Tsukamoto (writer)

Release Date:

13 January 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Three people in Tokyo take a surreal voyage of self-discovery through memory and nightmares. "O" intends...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Cell Phone | Detective | Young Man | Nightmare

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ryuhei Matsuda	...	Kyoichi Kagenuma
Hitomi	...	Keiko Kirishima
Masanobu Ando	...	Detective Wakamiya
Ren Ôsugi	...	Detective Sekiya
Yoshio Harada	...	Keizo Oishi
Shinya Tsukamoto	...	'0'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jin Muraki

Also Known As:

Nightmare Detective (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:106 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 | Taiwan:R-18 | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:MA (2008) | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Kaijyu Theater

Movie Connections:

Followed by Akumu Tantei 2 (2008)

Soundtrack:

Gymnopédie No.3

Depressingly conventional

What a letdown. When I first heard about this film, the premise of a 'nightmare detective' battling a serial killer within the victims' dream state seemed immensely appealing. And it being directed by the man responsible for the brilliant Tetsuo sealed the deal!! How would he spin the concept differently than Wes Craven's Elm Street series? But then, the misgivings started to creep in. Its being released by Dimension EXTREME stateside. Ugh. Could a more trend pandering and generic name for a releasing company even be possible? And unfortunately, the film itself is just as trend pandering. Stylistically, Tsukamoto blends every flashy aesthetic technique that is currently trendy: desaturated colors mixed in with scenes filmed through saturated color filters that come and go at random, uninspired Paul Greengrass type shaky camera-work/zooming being just a few examples. Aesthetics aside, the narrative is depressingly conventional and straightforward for the likes of a Tsukamoto. An interesting connection between the state of dreaming and death arises but is treated superficially and seems thrown in just so the killer can make creepy and twisted little monologues. But the film's main weakness is in the casting. Matsuda's emo, brooding, hair in his face 'nightmare detective' aimlessly mopes around through the whole film in perpetual angst. Why so glum, chum? Angst does not equal profound. And newcomer hitomi, while very easy on the eyes, is just completely unconvincing as the star detective who elicits Matsuda's supernatural talents to track down the killer. I also tried to concoct some sort of profound metacommentary for Tsukamoto's self casting but failed. I give this 2 stars because, despite all I wrote above, there are a few genuinely startling and well shot moments that demonstrate Tsukamoto's reputation as one of the greats of J-horror. I hear that this was a "for hire" job for him and unfortunately, it shows.