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Cure
Home Vision Entertainment // Unrated // January 6, 2004
List Price: $29.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
Before embarking on a tour of international cinema, one must understand that most movies from around the world don't resemble Hollywood features. Not only do they not look or sound like American films, the overall tone of many foreign films will seem, well, foreign to many U.S. audiences. A fine example of this is Cure, a Japanese thriller in which mood overrides all other stylistic properties.
The film takes place in modern-day Tokyo, where police detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) has been assigned to investigate a series of bizarre murders. All of the murders were committed by different people, all of whom come from different walks-of-life, but they all share two common traits: 1. the victims were found with an "X" cut into their throats, and 2. the perpetrators all claim to have no knowledge or memory of the crimes. Obviously, the strange nature of the murders is very stressful for Takabe, who is also taking care of his wife (Anna Nakagawa), who has a history of mental illness. Even Takage's psychiatric associate, Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) is stumped by the crimes. However, things get even stranger when a drifter with no memory (Masato Hagiwara) is found to be hypnotizing citizens of Tokyo to commit despicable acts. Is this man connected to the murders?
Cure is that rare film whose subject matter creeps into the film's overall presentation. Much of the film deals with hypnotism and writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has attempted to create a hypnotic film. The bulk of the dialogue scenes are done in one-take fashion, creating an uneasy, lulling sense in the viewer. Kurosawa's camera moves during these scenes, but the movements are always very slow and calculated. These long, slowly-paced scenes recalled the style that Miike employed in Audition.
But, unlike Audition, which goes absolutely bonkers in the final act, Cure never goes anywhere. The first 45 minutes of the film, in which we are introduced to Takabe and the murders, is interesting, and there are two very shocking shots which imply that the film will be a psychological thrill-ride. But the remainder of this 2-hour film is excruciatingly boring, as Kurosawa offers no answers to the multiple questions raised in Cure. And while I'm not a huge fan of ambiguity in films, if an avoidance of revelations is coupled with interesting characters, images, and actions, as with the films of David Lynch, it is forgivable. But, nothing happens during the last hour of Cure, and the audience is simply kept waiting for a satisfying ending which never comes. Some may find the final scene shocking, or the film "challenging", but it's clear that Kurosawa ran out of ideas for the third act.
The obvious film to which Cure can be compared is Se7en, as they were made at the same time, and contain similar stories. And although the ending of Se7en is confusing to many (I still meet people who don't know what was in the box) and left open to moral interpretations, at least the audience was given material to work with. Cure remains poker-faced, never showing its cards or letting the viewer into its warped mind.
Video
Cure makes its Region 1 DVD debut courtesy of Home Vision Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The transfer is sharp, and for the most part, clear, although there is some noticeable grain at times. The image has a slightly washed out and dark look, but the colors are fine and the image is never so dark that the action isn't discernible. There is some evidence of edge enhancement, but artifacting and video noise are kept to a minimum. The transfer isn't perfect, but considering the fact that many Asian films look awful on DVD, it is above average.
Audio
The DVD carries a 2.0 stereo audio track. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects, with only a slight hint of hissing. The stereo effects are quite good, and there is some decent bass from the front channels. The English subtitles are white and very easy to read.
Extras
The Cure DVD contains a handful of extras. We start with a 20-minute interview with director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which was conducted in Toronto in 2003. Kurosawa talks briefly about the origin of the idea of Cure, and then spends the rest of the interview chatting about his personal philosophies on the nature of man and film, and then comments on some of his colleagues. Given the ambiguous nature of Cure, I was hoping that Kurosawa would at least address some of the questions raised by the movie in this interview, but he does not. (This interview is presented in a 16 x 9 format.) The DVD also contains a trailer for Cure, which has been letterboxed at 1.78:1, but is not anamorphic. A filmography for Kurosawa is also included. Finally, the DVD sleeve contains liner notes which give an overview of Kurosawa's career and raise some theories about Cure.
Cure offers an interesting premise, but most audiences will find the film very slow and frustrating. If one is in the mood for a more mainstream Japanese thriller, I would recommend the similarly themed The Hypnotist (AKA Saimin, Hypnosis), in which a serial-killer is using hypnosis to force victims to commit suicide. The film may be a derivative mixture of Cure and Ringu, but it's a well-made, intelligent thriller which has an unforgettable climax.
Before embarking on a tour of international cinema, one must understand that most movies from around the world don't resemble Hollywood features. Not only do they not look or sound like American films, the overall tone of many foreign films will seem, well, foreign to many U.S. audiences. A fine example of this is Cure, a Japanese thriller in which mood overrides all other stylistic properties.
The film takes place in modern-day Tokyo, where police detective Kenichi Takabe (Koji Yakusho) has been assigned to investigate a series of bizarre murders. All of the murders were committed by different people, all of whom come from different walks-of-life, but they all share two common traits: 1. the victims were found with an "X" cut into their throats, and 2. the perpetrators all claim to have no knowledge or memory of the crimes. Obviously, the strange nature of the murders is very stressful for Takabe, who is also taking care of his wife (Anna Nakagawa), who has a history of mental illness. Even Takage's psychiatric associate, Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) is stumped by the crimes. However, things get even stranger when a drifter with no memory (Masato Hagiwara) is found to be hypnotizing citizens of Tokyo to commit despicable acts. Is this man connected to the murders?
Cure is that rare film whose subject matter creeps into the film's overall presentation. Much of the film deals with hypnotism and writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has attempted to create a hypnotic film. The bulk of the dialogue scenes are done in one-take fashion, creating an uneasy, lulling sense in the viewer. Kurosawa's camera moves during these scenes, but the movements are always very slow and calculated. These long, slowly-paced scenes recalled the style that Miike employed in Audition.
But, unlike Audition, which goes absolutely bonkers in the final act, Cure never goes anywhere. The first 45 minutes of the film, in which we are introduced to Takabe and the murders, is interesting, and there are two very shocking shots which imply that the film will be a psychological thrill-ride. But the remainder of this 2-hour film is excruciatingly boring, as Kurosawa offers no answers to the multiple questions raised in Cure. And while I'm not a huge fan of ambiguity in films, if an avoidance of revelations is coupled with interesting characters, images, and actions, as with the films of David Lynch, it is forgivable. But, nothing happens during the last hour of Cure, and the audience is simply kept waiting for a satisfying ending which never comes. Some may find the final scene shocking, or the film "challenging", but it's clear that Kurosawa ran out of ideas for the third act.
The obvious film to which Cure can be compared is Se7en, as they were made at the same time, and contain similar stories. And although the ending of Se7en is confusing to many (I still meet people who don't know what was in the box) and left open to moral interpretations, at least the audience was given material to work with. Cure remains poker-faced, never showing its cards or letting the viewer into its warped mind.
Video
Cure makes its Region 1 DVD debut courtesy of Home Vision Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The transfer is sharp, and for the most part, clear, although there is some noticeable grain at times. The image has a slightly washed out and dark look, but the colors are fine and the image is never so dark that the action isn't discernible. There is some evidence of edge enhancement, but artifacting and video noise are kept to a minimum. The transfer isn't perfect, but considering the fact that many Asian films look awful on DVD, it is above average.
Audio
The DVD carries a 2.0 stereo audio track. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects, with only a slight hint of hissing. The stereo effects are quite good, and there is some decent bass from the front channels. The English subtitles are white and very easy to read.
Extras
The Cure DVD contains a handful of extras. We start with a 20-minute interview with director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which was conducted in Toronto in 2003. Kurosawa talks briefly about the origin of the idea of Cure, and then spends the rest of the interview chatting about his personal philosophies on the nature of man and film, and then comments on some of his colleagues. Given the ambiguous nature of Cure, I was hoping that Kurosawa would at least address some of the questions raised by the movie in this interview, but he does not. (This interview is presented in a 16 x 9 format.) The DVD also contains a trailer for Cure, which has been letterboxed at 1.78:1, but is not anamorphic. A filmography for Kurosawa is also included. Finally, the DVD sleeve contains liner notes which give an overview of Kurosawa's career and raise some theories about Cure.
Cure offers an interesting premise, but most audiences will find the film very slow and frustrating. If one is in the mood for a more mainstream Japanese thriller, I would recommend the similarly themed The Hypnotist (AKA Saimin, Hypnosis), in which a serial-killer is using hypnosis to force victims to commit suicide. The film may be a derivative mixture of Cure and Ringu, but it's a well-made, intelligent thriller which has an unforgettable climax.
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