Vital (2004)

After a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryôko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a ... See full summary »

Director:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Writer:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Stars:

Tadanobu Asano, Nami Tsukamoto, Kiki

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tadanobu Asano	...	Hiroshi Takagi
Nami Tsukamoto	...	Ryôko Ooyama
Kiki	...	Ikumi
Kazuyoshi Kushida	...	Hiroshi's father
Lily	...	Hiroshi's mother
Hana Kino	...	Mrs. Ooyama, Ryôko's mother
Gô Rijû	...	Dr. Nakai
Jun Kunimura	...	Mr. Ooyama, Ryôko's father
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Dr. Kashiwabuchi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takashi Akiba
Toshiki Ayata
Kazuko Emura
Asako Endô
Kuniko Fukuda
Takashi Furuya

Storyline

After a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryôko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a book about dissection, he decides to join the medical school with the support of his parents. In the dissection class, his group participates of the autopsy of a young woman, and while cutting apart the tissue, he partially recalls his accident. Later, when he sees a tattoo in the arm of the corpse, he discloses that she was his girlfriend and becomes obsessed to go further in the examination of the body.

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Plot Keywords:

loneliness | dissection | tattoo | parents | autopsy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some aberrant sexual behavior, disturbing images and brief language

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Blue Bird
Written by Cocco
Performed by Cocco

User Reviews

beautiful and very intoxicating

This film really gave me an impression and was for myself a very memorable experience.

Like many others i was also quite surprised about the emotional and gentle character of this film. Before starting to watch i prepared myself for something extreme and uncompromising like i experienced in many Shinya Tsukamoto's films. But that is a good thing for this film; making it possible to reach a broader audience. And it definitely deserves it.

Technically this film is superb. Lighting and camera were excellent .. and the colors ... Sound design and music weren't that demonstrative but still played, in a subtle way, an important role. Acting was also impressive. Tadanobu Asano, one of my favorite actor since Ichi the killer, was a perfect fit. Nami Tsukamoto was very scary, in a good way ;). But she doesn't have a record at IMDb yet. I wonder why .. her acting was very promising. And letting Kiki perform modern dance was for the atmosphere and art-style a very good idea.

To sum the story up, by leaving all the artful details behind, you could say it is about the painful yearning for the loved one. This was extremely good implemented. Just everything, art, sound and acting supported the presentation of this yearning.

This is one of those films you don't simply watch. You have to experience them.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 December 2004 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Vital: Autopsia di un amore

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kaijyu Theater

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1