Imamura returned from a seven-year absence from filmmaking with this Palme d'or–winner at the Cannes film festival, an alternately clinical and chaotic portrait of a paroled killer, his pet fish, and the gang of misfits they take refuge with. Paroled after serving time for knifing his unfaithful wife, the withdrawn Yamashita (Koji Yakusho, Shall We Dance?, Babel) attempts to rehabilitate himself in a small seaside town with the usual Imamura assortment of nosy fishermen, loudmouthed gangsters, and UFO seekers. He desires only a quiet life with his pet eel, but a lively young woman, her thuggish ex-lover, and Yamashita's maniacally “reformed” ex-cellmate are poised to drag him back into reality, and toward the violence that lurks within him. Filmed with Imamura's droll sense of humor and marginalized, lovingly off-kilter characters, The Eel ends with another of the director's trademarks, a wildly staged finale filled with fisticuffs, flamenco, and the joyous breakdown of any possible sense of calm.