Sôseiji (1999)

A successful doctor, Yukio's picture perfect life is gradually wrecked, and taken over by his avenging twin brother, who bumps off his family members one by one and reclaims his lover who is now Yukio's wife.

Director:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Writers:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto (screenplay), Rampo Edogawa (short story "Sôseiji: Aru shikeishû ga kyôkaishi ni uchiaketa hanashi")

Stars:

Masahiro Motoki, Ryô, Yasutaka Tsutsui

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masahiro Motoki	...	Yukio Daitokuji / Sutekichi
Ryô	...	Rin
Yasutaka Tsutsui	...	Yukio's Father
Masako Motai	...	Shige
Renji Ishibashi	...	Beggar Monk
Akaji Maro	...	Kakubê
Tomorô Taguchi	...	Middle-aged Patient
Jun Murakami	...	Young Patient
Yukito Mizoguchi	...	Child
Eri Yu	...	(as Eri Yû)
Hisako Ôkata	...	Taki'e
Yuriko Hirooka	...	Toshiko
Yuki Inomata	...	Suzu
Sujin Kim	...	Detective
Hiromi Kuronuma

Storyline

Yukio is living a charmed life: he is a respected young doctor with a successful practice and a beautiful wife. His only problem is that his wife is suffering from amnesia, and her past is unknown. Things begin to fall apart, however, when both his parents die suddenly, killed by a mysterious stranger with Yukio's face. Only when Yukio confronts this stranger will the mystery of his identity, and his wife's past, be revealed.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | twins | amnesia | flashback | surrealism | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 September 1999 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Gemini

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sedic,Marubeni,Kaijyu Theater

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Everyone who appeared on camera had make-up applied to hide their eyebrows.

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Connections

Featured in Malformed Memories (2007)

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Soundtracks

Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
Music by Johannes Brahms

User Reviews

Tsukamoto's best?

First things first: somebody needs to officially release this film in the United States. I see three thousand copies of Dude, Where's My Car every time I step outside, but when I want to see a beautiful and interesting film like Gemini, I have to track down a dubious bootleg on eBay. Pitiful.

The plot concerns a rich doctor suddenly thrown into a well by a man who looks exactly like him. The mysterious doppelganger takes over the doctor's identity, his household, and his wife, all the while laughing and taunting down the well at his imprisoned twin. As the mysterious lookalike gradually reveals the truth to the doctor, it becomes less and less certain which of the twins is the "hero" and which is the "villain."

Shinya Tsukamoto isn't a great director yet, but he's getting there. With Gemini he reveals a tremendous versatility, combining moments of sedate drama with hyperkinetic sequences of terror and joy. The actors are all magnificent (especially Masahiro Motoki in a complex double role), the cinematography is stunning, and the story is thoroughly intriguing and well told. It's not the best movie ever made by any means, but here and there Tsukamoto manages a few moments of real greatness, scenes where we genuinely become one with these characters and their needs. Watch the doctor, defeated and filthy at the bottom of his well, beg for a release from his suffering; watch the wife burst into tears as she remembers her past existence.

Tsukamoto knows what he's doing. He hasn't quite achieved true greatness yet, but one day he may just break through.