A young investigator, Keiko Kirishima, stumbles upon two mysterious suicides that appear to be linked: shortly before their deaths (which occurred in their sleep), the victims dialed the same phone number registered as "0" on their cell phones. The police decide to turn to the nightmare investigator, a boy who can enter people's dreams, to try to trace the killer.
Shinya Tsukamoto, the visionary artist of Tetsuo, A Snake of June, and Ichi The Killer, packs a horror film that distinctly and authentically retraces the clichés of the genre (ghosts, nightmares, cell phones...), a film in which the director masterfully blends, with great visual class, reality with dreams, and life with the fear of death, in which suicide represents the only salvation, the liberation from human suffering, and where there is no shortage of frenzy, dreaming, and violence, elements characteristic of his previous works. Tsukamoto presents us with parallel realities, timeless spaces, boundless places where the Killer (played by Tsukamoto himself) hides and plays with the lives of his victims. A hypnotic film in which one can admire the director's skill in creating tension in the viewer, Akumu Tantei penetrates the soul and brings up the most disturbing nightmares and deepest fears.
The direction made using a hand-held camera, combined with a majestic, livid monochromatic cinematography that alternates between warm and cold colors, and the highly engaging soundtrack, make the film an interesting, almost surreal dreamlike experiment.
A wonderful film, recommended for lovers of Japanese cinema.
Review of Lady of sorrow
