Rokugatsu no Hebi (2002)
Genre: Drama / Mystery
Duration: 77 minuten
Alternative titles: A Snake of June / 六月の蛇
Country:
Japan
Directed by: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Stars: Asuka Kurosawa, Yûji Kôtari and Shin'ya Tsukamoto
IMDb score:
6,8 (5.791)
Releasedate: 13 June 2003
Rokugatsu no Hebi plot
In the Japanese city without a name, it rains incessantly. Among the millions of nameless people who spend their daily time in anonymous office flats is Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa), who works as a soul nurse at a helpline for cancer patients. The young woman feels trapped in her eroticism-free marriage to Shigehiko (Yuji Kotari), a middle-aged man who cleans compulsively after office hours and sleeps in the living room at night. One day, to her dismay, Rinko is blackmailed with compromising photos by a mysterious photographer with stomach cancer (Shinya Tsukamoto). Thanks to Rinko's compassionate guidance at the helpline, the man has abandoned his suicide plans and instead found a new purpose in life: Rinko. He sends her a cell phone and instructs her to perform all kinds of scabrous acts in exchange for the negatives. Slowly but surely the relationship between blackmailer and victim shifts, and Rinko's wife also gets wind of the matter. In the sultry summer evening, this bizarre history climbs to a climax. The voice on the phone becomes contoured, the rain intensifies. Rinko waits for what's to come.
Reviews & comments
Black Math
-
- 5430 messages
- 1753 votes
A somewhat lesser Tsukamoto. The beginning was very strong. How lame do you want it, a woman who is blackmailed because she once wore a miniskirt, but Tsukamoto nevertheless manages to create an incredibly oppressive atmosphere. I have to say that I also had to think a bit about Saw, although both films cannot be compared at all. The chilling atmosphere disappears a bit after she gets the negatives, after which the film seems to lose a bit of direction for me as well. The photo scene in the rain was nice, but also worked a bit (unintentionally?) on my laughing muscles. Anyway, I find the sounds that Japanese women make during sex in films quite ridiculous, which also seemed to disturb the atmosphere in the film a bit. Certainly not a bad movie.
Translated from Dutch · View original
leatherhead
-
- 3556 messages
- 1813 votes
An atmospheric snack, but not as great as I had hoped. The first half hour in particular does not go so smoothly. The clumsy acting, the somewhat too classical soundtrack and the boring stalking plot were partly to blame for this. Fortunately, Tsukamoto creates a nice atmosphere with the blue filter and the constantly pouring rain, but it all still feels a bit dead. I think it's probably the coolest movie I've ever seen from him.
Halfway through I think the narrative was pushed more into the background and Tsuka gave free rein to his audiovisual pretensions. After the somewhat weak first half, the film also takes on a somewhat more outrageous character. With the chase + photoshoot scene as the highlight. Nice and hectic camera work and sound as usual strong. Fortunately, the film then also manages to close in style and a reasonably positive feeling still prevails. Spacious 3*, a pity about the somewhat sterile start.
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