Cure (1997) Kyua

Movie Rating NR Contains: Strong Language Violence Graphic Violence Mature Situations

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Movie Genre: Drama, Crime Country: Japan Cure Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 8.7 Writing: 7.0 Acting: 8.0 Cinematography: 8.5 Sound and Score: 5.0 Functionality: 8.0 Presentation: 7.8 Genre Comparison: 7.0 General Comparison: 8.0 Overall: 7.6 Reviewed 2005-12-16 00:38:46

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa brings the serial killer thriller genre to Japan with Cure. Koji Yakusho plays Kenichi Takabe, the detective trying to get to the bottom of a series of mostly unrelated murders. The main tie these murders share is Kunio Mamiya, played by Masato Hagiwara. The men play a game of cat-and-mouse until one of them cracks.

The acting by both Yakusho and Hagiwara is superb. Yakusho's character is charismatic, well-developed, and serves as an excellent anchor for the audience. At first, Hagiwara's character comes off as a mentally deficient, spaced-out, drifter, but through the course of the movie, his amazing power is revealed.

Cure is a dark movie, both in story and lighting. The mood created by the overall darkness is enhanced by the occasional flicker of light. For example, the look of the dimly lit basement cell juxtaposed with the snowy abandoned hospital creates a creepy feeling.

Movies such as Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs and David Fincher's Se7en invigorated and popularized this genre in America. At the same time, Kiyoshi Kurosawa pushed this genre one step further by focusing on the plight of the main character and how he relates to the audience. As Kurosawa's most accessible work, Cure will likely attract a larger audience while still managing to remain faithful to the main constraints of this genre.

This movie takes the viewer to new heights with its enthralling story and eerie visuals. Only after the ending sequence, does the viewer realize just how far it is to the ground. The feeling created by this movie will not soon be forgotten.