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 & 2 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

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

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Blue Bird
Written by Cocco
Performed by Cocco

User Reviews

Not quite there yet...

I was mostly disappointed with this film. I'm a fan of Tsukamoto's other work, and while this film indicates his growth as a director, and has a strong cast, I felt it had issues with pacing, and a pretty dissatisfying ending.

Asano Tadanobu, normally an engaging lead, seems to be coasting through this film, brooding, mainly. Of course, maybe that's how his character was written, but I found myself wondering when it would pick up in several places and unable to identify with him.

Kunimura Jun is wonderfully powerful as Ryoko's father, and I wound up wishing he was more of a central character. I also felt Ittoku Kishibe, who can conjure a truly menacing screen presence, was rather wasted as Dr. Kashiwabuchi.

There are some interesting philosophical questions raised, but they are never really addressed or explored fully. I guess I'm also getting tired of the "I don't know whether I'm dreaming or awake" cliché in many movies in this genre. Plus, it's a little ham-fisted to have a character just come out and say that.

Vital contains a few interesting scenes involving a dance, and some of Tsukamoto's signature music video-style strangeness in a few places, but in summary, a slow, dark film with no real scares or thrills.