is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Shōhei Imamura, based on the book of the same name by

Ryūzō Saki was a Japanese novelist and non-fiction writer, born in North Hamgyong, a province of what is now North Korea. He was interested in high-profile crimes in Japan and published a number of non-fiction books about Japanese crimes. On January 14, ...

. It depicts the true story of serial killer

Akira Nishiguchi was a Japanese serial killer and fraudster who murdered five people in late 1963. The focus of a national manhunt, Nishiguchi's crime spree came to an end in January 1964 when he was identified by the 10-year-old daughter of a potential victim. ...

, changing the protagonist's name to Iwao Enokizu.

Plot

In the opening scenes, serial killer Iwao Enokizu is taken to a police station, where he is greeted by an angry mob and a huge crowd of journalists. The police interrogate him, but he refuses to answer. The film then switches to a series of flashback sequences, starting with the initial murders. Enokizu tricks and then kills two men, steals their money and disappears. He travels to another city, where he asks a taxi driver to take him to an inn where he can get a prostitute. He tells the innkeeper, a woman called Haru, that he is a professor at Kyoto University. The police, searching for Enokizu, put out bulletins with his face on television. The prostitute thinks the professor is Enokizu, but she is told not to go to the police because of her job. In a flashback going back to Enokizu's childhood, he is seen as a rebellious, violent child and son of a Catholic father Shizuo, whose fishing boats were forcibly conscripted by the Japanese Navy in the 1930s. As a young man after the war, Enokizu is convicted and imprisoned for fraud. His wife Kazuko, who is attracted to Shizuo, divorces Enokizu, but is persuaded by Shizuo to remarry him, due to his Catholic beliefs. After the remarriage, Kazuko and Shizuo engage in a sexual act while bathing, during which the latter coldly rebuffs her. Shizuo then encourages a railway worker to sleep with Kazuko to satiate her. Enokizu, discharged from prison and suspecting a dalliance, accuses her of sleeping with Shizuo while he served his sentence. Enokizu, still wanted by the police, travels to Tokyo. He tricks the mother of a young defendant into giving him the bail money for her son. He then befriends a lawyer, kills him and uses his apartment, where he hides his victim's body. He sends some money to Haru, and travels back to her place, where Haru's mother, a convicted murderer, has recently been released from prison. Haru and her mother realise that the alleged professor is the wanted man, but keep it a secret. Enokizu and Haru enter into a tentative relationship. Haru is raped by a benefactor who uses her as his mistress, while her mother and Enokizu are forced to watch silently. Enokizu, sure that Haru is carrying their unborn child, kills both Haru and her mother and pawns their goods. The prostitute from before, upon seeing Enokizu again, reports him to the police. Five years later, Enokizu has been executed and cremated. His father and wife go to the top of a mountain to scatter his ashes, but the thrown bones remain hanging in the air.

Cast

* Ken Ogata as Iwao Enokizu * Rentarō Mikuni as Shizuo Enokizu, Iwao's father * Mitsuko Baisho�
倍賞美津子
– as Kazuko Enokizu, Iwao's wife * Chocho Miyako as Kayo Enokizu, Iwao's mother * Mayumi Ogawa– 小川真由美 – as Haru Asano * Nijiko Kiyokawa as Hisano Asano, Haru's mother * Taiji Tonoyama as Tanejiro Shibata, the first victim * Goro Tarumi as Daihachi Baba, the second victim * Moeko Ezawa as Chiyoko Hata * Kazuko Shirakawa as Sachiko Yoshizato *

Frankie Sakai (13 February 1929 – 10 June 1996) was a Japanese comedian, actor, and musician. Career From his days at Keio University, Sakai worked as a jazz drummer at American Army camps during the Occupation of Japan, often doing comic routines with his ...

as Detective Kawai * Torahiko Hamada as Chief Detective Yoshino * Yasuhisa Sonoda as Detective Kuwata * Akira Hamada as Detective Ichikawa * Kazunaga Tsuji as Detective Kuchiishi * Shōhei Hino as Haru's friend *

Yoshi Katō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 175 films between 1949 and 1988. He won the award for Best Actor at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in ''Hometown''. He married the actress Isuzu Yamada in 1950, but ...

as the lawyer Kawashima, the third victim *

Toshie Negishi is a Japanese film and television actress. Filmography Film * ''Kaerazaru hibi'' (1978) * '' Toki o Kakeru Shōjo'' (1983) - Tachibana * '' Lonely Heart'' (1985) - Makoto's mother * ''The Sea and Poison'' (1986) - Ueda * '' Sada'' (1998) - Yosh ...

as the prostitute ("stick girl") * Kin Sugai as Defendant's mother

Reception

Jasper Sharp commented, " th seducing and repelling with its unusual story and grisly humour, Imamura uncovers a seedy underbelly of civilised Japanese society."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

called the movie "a cry of despair and hopelessness on behalf of its insane hero" and "poignant, tragic and banal enough to deserve the comparison with '' Crime and Punishment''."

Awards

The film won the 1979 Best Picture Award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and was awarded for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Ken Ogata) at the

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

References

Sources

External links

* * * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Vengeance Is Mine'' , list = {{Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film {{Japan Academy Prize for Best Film {{Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film {{Mainichi Film Award for Excellence Film 1979 films 1979 crime drama films Japanese crime drama films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Shohei Imamura Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners Japanese serial killer films Shochiku films 1970s Japanese films