The Third Murder (2017)

A courtroom drama centered around the murder of a factory president.

Director:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Stars:

Masaharu Fukuyama, Kôji Yakusho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima

6 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Masaharu Fukuyama	...	Shigemori
Kôji Yakusho	...	Misumi
Shinnosuke Mitsushima	...	Kawashima Akira
Mikako Ichikawa	...	Sasabara Itsuki
Izumi Matsuoka	...	Hattori Akiko
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isao Hashizume	...	Shigemori Akihisa
Suzu Hirose	...	Sakie
Hajime Inoue	...	Ono Minoru
Aju Makita	...	Shigemori Yuka
Ichirô Ogura
Yuki Saitô	...	Yamanaka Mitsue
Tôru Shinagawa	...	Watanabe
Kôtarô Yoshida	...	Settsu Daisuke

Storyline

Misumi has a criminal record dating back many years and is now under the spotlight again. It looks like an open and shut case, for Misumi has confessed to the new charge. Enter prominent lawyer Shigemori, who harbours other ideas, which could mean the difference between life and death.

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Plot Keywords:

pig | bacon | burning a dead body | searching for the truth | short skirt uniform | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 148472.

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Quotes

Sakie: I don't want to pretend not to see, like my mother.

User Reviews

Very good...but the pacing will create a problem for many viewers

In recent years, Hirokazu Koreeda has been among the most exciting and interesting Japanese filmmakers. In movies such as "Like Father, Like Son", "Our Little Sister" and "Shoplifters", he tells marvelous stories about seemingly ordinary and non-cimematic sitations....stories about real people and about problems which you rarely hear about in Japanese movies. Here, in a bit of a change of pace, Koreeda takes on a story about murder....and it's complex, strange and ultimately worth seeing. Sadly, however, the pacing is glacially slow...and many viewers ultimately might give up on the film before its conclusion.

The story is about a group of lawyers who have been a pretty hopeless case to defend. It seems a man has pled guilty to murder and burning a corpse...and he's done little to help himself avoid the death penalty. In addition, his story is very inconsistent and keeps changing. Inexplicably, instead of just going through the motions as most lawyers would do in a case like this, Shigemori keeps digging to learn exactly what did happen and why...and, not surprisingly, it's not what the case originally seemed to be.

The story is slow....very, very slow. For non-Japanese audiences, this slowness makes watching the film with subtitles a bit tough...and I found myself drifting off on occasion. My advice is to stick with it....the twist is shocking and exposes some issues rarely addressed in films...especially Japanese films. Not surprising, as Koreeda seems to enjoy addressing topics which other Japanese filmmakers avoid.

Details

Official Sites:

GAGA [Japan] Official Facebook [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 July 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Third Murder

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,670, 22 July 2018

Gross USA:

$89,315

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,411,936

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amuse, Fuji IG Laboratory for Movies (FILM), Fuji Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1