Hysteric (2000) [N/A]
Featuring:
Kazuyoshi Hayashi, Chihara Junia, Hijiri Kojima
Written by:
Kishû Izuchi
Directed by:
Takahisa Zeze
Release Date:
May 7, 2000
Original Title:
ヒステリック
Genres:
Action | Drama | Thriller
Production Countries:
Japan
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 110
In this startling psychological thriller from Japan, Mami (Hijiri Kojima) is a teacher who meets Tomo (Koji Chihara), a psychotic criminal with a short temper and no visible means of support. Amour fou blooms between them, and a year later they're living together, with Mami taking part as Tomo abducts, tortures, and kills one of their neighbors. Eventually the cycle of crime goes too far for Mami and she leaves Tomo, but several years later, he arrives at her home to disrupt her life with her new husband. Hysteric was directed by Takahisa Zeze, who previously received critical acclaim for the film Kokkuri. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
At first, it appears that director Zeze Takahisa is just jumping on the bandwagon of "killer lovers on the road" movies that began with "Bonnie & Clyde" and wore thin with "Love & A .45" (by way of "True Romance" "Natural Born Killers", and everything in between).But there is a poignancy to this film that is absent in the others. While other directors dehumanize their protagonists, turning them into distant media icons, Takahisa inspires a sense of sympathy for Tomoaki and Mami. As the gun-toting lovers make their way from the dreary urban wastelands, to the Japanese countryside, the audience are treated to moments of vulnerability that make the characters more well-rounded than their Western counterparts.Zeze uses familiar plot devices to call into question the senseless materialism of modern-day Japan, and the viewer is treated to a stylized, expressionistic world of otherwise familiar sites: family-run restaurants, beach houses, pachinko (Japanese pinball) parlors, etc.[When I watched "Hysteric" at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (2000), the organizers repeatedly emphasized that the film is based on a true crime, so I suppose that Zeze must think that this is important to note.]All in all, it's a fun interpretation of an otherwise saturated genre.
