RAMPO NOIR (2005)

3 stars

Arrow Video. Limited Edition Blu ray. 6th January 

Four filmmakers put their spin on stories based on the work of Edogawa Rampo – the so called Japanese master of the macabre.

First up is Mars Canal, directed by Suguru Takeuchi. A naked man in a bleak landscape. He is then seen attacking an equally nude woman, beating her. He wanders to a pool of water. There is no dialogue just lots of jumbled, flashing imagery. Is there a narrative here? Short and rather pointless. 

The second story, Mirror Hell, features Rampo’s detective character Kogoro Akechi (Tadanobu Asano). It opens with a beach full of mirrors. Others places with reflective surfaces. “Life is what is reflected in a mirror. It’s neither real, nor unreal”. Very philosophical. Several women are dead, with their faces melted down to their skulls. Akechi is aiding the police in their investigations. What is the connection with the mirrors? Cleverly shot, as most of the scenes have lots of long looking glasses in them which must have been a nightmare for the director of photography! This is slow and rather odd and leads to a weird conclusion. Directed by Akio Jissoji

Catrepillar, our third outing, was directed by Hisayasu Satô. A man has returned home from war, severely disfigured. He is limbless, drooling and can’t speak. His wife (Yukiko Okamoto) gets off by having S&M sex with him – which he can do nothing about. Butterfly motifs abound and it is beautiful visually. An oblique, twisted love story…

In the final tale, Crawling Bugs, helmed by Atsushi Kaneko, a limo driver (Asano) is infatuated with a beautiful actress (Tamaki Ogawa). Lush visuals with striking compositions make this interesting even if the story is somewhat convoluted.

If your sensibilities run to the arthouse, then you will probably get more out of this quartet of stories than I did. There is much to admire here from an imagery point of view, but it was way too arty for my tastes – though I can see some will love it for the exact same reason.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

4 stars 

Audio commentary by Japanese film experts Jasper Sharp and Alexander Zahlten

Interviews with Suguru Takeuchi, director of “Mars’s Canal” (14 mins); Hisayasu Sato, director of “Caterpillar” (25 mins); Atsushi Kaneko, manga artist and director of “Crawling Bugs” (14 mins); cinematographer Masao Nakabori about working with Akio Jissoji and “Mirror Hell” (25 mins); Akiko Ashizawa, the cinematographer of “Caterpillar” (16 mins); actor Yumi Yoshiyuki about “Mirror Hell” (14 mins). 

Archive stage greeting footage with the cast and directors from the Japanese premiere of Rampo Noir (15 mins)

Crossing the Lens, a feature-length making-of documentary by Tatsuya Fukushima from 2006 (76 mins)

Various Image galleries

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Insect and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Eugene Thacker and Seth Jacobowitz