Unagi

Name: Unagi
Genre: Drama
Released: 1997-05-24
Duration: 1 h 57 min
Rating: 7.4
Cast: Kôji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô

19971997
K-18K-18
1h 57m

7.4/10

5.9K

Drama

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 pr... Read allA 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.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.

7.4/10

5.9K

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

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Awards
- 16 wins & 14 nominations

Photos12

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. —Anonymous

prison barber village barber shop memory 89 more

Trivia
Winner of the 1997 Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival tied with another title Taste of Cherry from Iran.

Quotes
Takuro Yamashita: An eel's all a man needs.

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

Top review

7/10

A little gem

THE EEL borders on dark humour when a man, who after eight years in prison for the murder of his wife, is released from jail. He sets himself up in a barber shop by the river and trouble comes knocking on his door and he can not seem to get away from it. Simple, yet effective, a very mature piece of work and pleasing overall.

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