The Eel (1997)

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After the release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking almost to no one except an eel he befriended while in prison.

Director:

Shôhei Imamura

Writers:

Shôhei Imamura, Daisuke Tengan

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô

16 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Takuro Yamashita
Misa Shimizu	...	Keiko Hattori
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Misako Nakajima
Akira Emoto	...	Tamotsu Takasaki
Fujio Tokita	...	Jiro Nakajima
Shô Aikawa	...	Yuji Nozawa
Ken Kobayashi	...	Masaki Saito
Sabu Kawahara	...	Seitaro Misato
Etsuko Ichihara	...	Fumie Hattori
Tomorô Taguchi	...	Eiji Dojima
Chiho Terada	...	Emiko Yamashita
Shinshô Nakamaru
Sei Hiraizumi
Seiji Kurasaki
Toshirô Ishidô

Storyline

White-collar worker Yamashita finds out that his wife has a lover visiting her when he's away, suddenly returns home and kills her. After eight years in prison, he returns to live in a small village, opens a barber shop (he was trained as a barber in prison) and talks almost to no-one except for the eel he "befriended" in prison. One day he finds the unconscious body of Keiko, who attempted suicide and reminds him of his wife. She starts to work at his shop, but he doesn't let her become close to him.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | barber | village | barber shop | underwater | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

21 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Eel

Filming Locations:

Sawara, Chiba, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,879, 23 August 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$413,793, 30 May 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eisei Gekijo, Groove Corporation, Imamura Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 134 min (Directors Cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship certificate # 103959.

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Quotes

Jiro Nakajima: Is it bad to have such rumors about a guy on parole?

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Connections

Featured in Especial Cannes: 50 Anos de Festival (1997)

User Reviews

How a Japanese man copes with guilt

The Eel tells a story about a Japanese man who copes with his guilt after committing a crime. (I won't go into details on the crime, that's for you to find out) The way he does this is what makes this movie a great one in my book. Not only does he turn himself in after the crime (with a great way of response by the police) he even makes a friend out of an eel in prison. Hence the name of the movie. Once outside the prison he tries to build up a barber shop and get his life back on track.

The film is carried by its character interactions. Apart from these there is nothing else in this film, so for those who don't like dialogue don't bother with this film because you'll be bored.

For the others, who like a story carried by characters, this surely is a must. The only flaw for me was the presence of a quirky UFO nut, but that's minor.

And please watch the original version with subs and not some gruesome dubbed version. I never understood the appeal of a dub.