A follow-up to our May Imamura series (during which time Imamura was awarded the Grand Prize at Cannes for his latest film, The Ballad of Narayama).

Vengeance Is Mine is an examination of the unregenerate criminal mind, based on the true story of the “King of Criminals” who seduced and murdered his way through Japan until finally caught by police. His story became a best selling “non-fiction novel,” upon which Shohei Imamura has based this film of psychological complexity, graphic violence and grisly humor. Sheldan Renan comments, “The film tumbles between present (showing the hero's crimes) and past (showing some of the causes of his rage against society), between beautiful stylized photography and gritty realism, between distance and intimacy. The film itself seduces and assaults the audience, just as the character Enokizu did his victims. Vengeance Is Mine shows us the places never seen in most Japanese films - the back alleys and cheap inns. And audiences should be warned that it also shows sex and violence with a directness that many will find upsetting.”