The Eel

Rating:
Summary: Sensational
Review: Shohei Imamura has been responsible for some of the better films out of Japan -- "Black Rain," "Vengeance Is Mine," and "The Pornographers" all come to mind. How, then, to explain "The Eel," a movie so silly and dumbfoundingly amateurish that it contains mistakes no first-time filmmaker would make?

The plot: After spending eight years in prison for murdering his philandering wife, a man returns to society and opens a barbershop with only his pet eel as company. He stumbles across a woman who has apparently attempted to commit suicide, and in gratitude she offers her services at his shop. He doesn't want anything to do with her, but eventually it becomes him vs. her half-psychotic former boyfriend (in a subplot involving her loony mother and some stolen money that's as stupid as it is unedifying).

The main problem with "The Eel" is not the premise, which is fine, but the way the movie is set up and played off. The writing and directing (and in many cases the acting) are staggeringly bad, so much so that I felt flat-out pity for Imamura. I suspect he had an idea that he simply was not capable of doing justice to properly, and compromised somewhere along the way.

So what kinds of mistakes are made? Example: Takuro is shown goose-stepping in prison as part of the routine. When he's released, he follows his parole officer a little too closely, and with a walk that's reminiscent of the goose-step without actually being that way. The parole officer asks him what's wrong. So far, so good. But then Imamura destroys the moment by forcing a shot of other prisoners goose-stepping, and even goes so far as to give us a voice-over explaining what was going on. It's as if he doesn't trust himself or his audience to figure anything out. Worse, there's a scene later where a bunch of recruits go jogging by. Takuro compulsively falls into step with them, like some publicity hound trying to be seen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Perhaps the most telling comment of all came from the director himself: when he was at Cannes the first couple of days, he grew unhappy and declared, "I can't compete with all of the big-budget entries here, and I'm not happy with the way my movie looks. I'm going home." He left the festival, and it was up to Koji Yakusho to accept the award on his behalf. When Imamura heard the news, his response was "There must have been some mistake. They should recount the ballots." He was probably right.

Rating:
Summary: Clumsy, amateurish, pretentious
Review: Shohei Imamura has been responsible for some of the better films out of Japan -- "Black Rain," "Vengeance Is Mine," and "The Pornographers" all come to mind. How, then, to explain "The Eel," a movie so silly and dumbfoundingly amateurish that it contains mistakes no first-time filmmaker would make?

The plot: After spending eight years in prison for murdering his philandering wife, a man returns to society and opens a barbershop with only his pet eel as company. He stumbles across a woman who has apparently attempted to commit suicide, and in gratitude she offers her services at his shop. He doesn't want anything to do with her, but eventually it becomes him vs. her half-psychotic former boyfriend (in a subplot involving her loony mother and some stolen money that's as stupid as it is unedifying).

The main problem with "The Eel" is not the premise, which is fine, but the way the movie is set up and played off. The writing and directing (and in many cases the acting) are staggeringly bad, so much so that I felt flat-out pity for Imamura. I suspect he had an idea that he simply was not capable of doing justice to properly, and compromised somewhere along the way.

So what kinds of mistakes are made? Example: Takuro is shown goose-stepping in prison as part of the routine. When he's released, he follows his parole officer a little too closely, and with a walk that's reminiscent of the goose-step without actually being that way. The parole officer asks him what's wrong. So far, so good. But then Imamura destroys the moment by forcing a shot of other prisoners goose-stepping, and even goes so far as to give us a voice-over explaining what was going on. It's as if he doesn't trust himself or his audience to figure anything out. Worse, there's a scene later where a bunch of recruits go jogging by. Takuro compulsively falls into step with them, like some publicity hound trying to be seen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Perhaps the most telling comment of all came from the director himself: when he was at Cannes the first couple of days, he grew unhappy and declared, "I can't compete with all of the big-budget entries here, and I'm not happy with the way my movie looks. I'm going home." He left the festival, and it was up to Koji Yakusho to accept the award on his behalf. When Imamura heard the news, his response was "There must have been some mistake. They should recount the ballots." He was probably right.

Rating:
Summary: A film with a rare kind of integrity.
Review: Shohei Imamura returns in fine form with "Unagi" (Japanese word for 'eel'). There are certainly noir-ish themes explored in this film. There's a protagonist in a lonely, secluded state of existence who must face life with staunch stoicism, there are shots where exaggerated emphasis on color depicts the emotional content of the scene/character, dream/surreal sequences, a crime from which everything unfurls, etc... However, to view the film only as an homage to certain noir films is a grave disservice to Imamura's originality and craftsmanship. The characters and storyline are rendered without a trace of sentimentality, which is a feat given that the familiar story matter invites kitsch: a man catches and kills his adulterous wife, receives parole and begins a new life. It just makes me shudder to think what kind of cornball Hollywood would have come up with, given the same subject matter. Koji Yakusho gives another fine performance as a confounded man who does not know the true nature of his crime, who nonetheless craves a new beginning, no matter how uncomfortable he is with all the things in the world. The male and female protagonists are fantastically flawed people, and that's the way most people (us) are, aren't we? There should be more films like this: portraying the worst and redeeming qualities of people with unflinching honesty. Imamura's honesty pays off handsomely when there seems to be a hint of redemption for these fallen people. It is genuinely moving, and the redemption is a believable one, the kind that all of us wish for ourselves when we are down on our knees. All the emotions - sexuality, voyeuristic tendencies, inferiority complex, fear, etc- are so accurately conveyed and palpably summoned up that you begin to muse about the shadows that lurk within yourself.

Rating:
Summary: A film with a rare kind of integrity.
Review: Shohei Imamura returns in fine form with "Unagi" (Japanese word for 'eel'). There are certainly noir-ish themes explored in this film. There's a protagonist in a lonely, secluded state of existence who must face life with staunch stoicism, there are shots where exaggerated emphasis on color depicts the emotional content of the scene/character, dream/surreal sequences, a crime from which everything unfurls, etc... However, to view the film only as an homage to certain noir films is a grave disservice to Imamura's originality and craftsmanship. The characters and storyline are rendered without a trace of sentimentality, which is a feat given that the familiar story matter invites kitsch: a man catches and kills his adulterous wife, receives parole and begins a new life. It just makes me shudder to think what kind of cornball Hollywood would have come up with, given the same subject matter. Koji Yakusho gives another fine performance as a confounded man who does not know the true nature of his crime, who nonetheless craves a new beginning, no matter how uncomfortable he is with all the things in the world. The male and female protagonists are fantastically flawed people, and that's the way most people (us) are, aren't we? There should be more films like this: portraying the worst and redeeming qualities of people with unflinching honesty. Imamura's honesty pays off handsomely when there seems to be a hint of redemption for these fallen people. It is genuinely moving, and the redemption is a believable one, the kind that all of us wish for ourselves when we are down on our knees. All the emotions - sexuality, voyeuristic tendencies, inferiority complex, fear, etc- are so accurately conveyed and palpably summoned up that you begin to muse about the shadows that lurk within yourself.

Rating:
Summary: News At Eel Heaven
Review: Stop now if you don't watch subtitled movies. That should get rid of the morons....Now, for the rest of you - rent this! It's too costly to buy now (June 2000), but worth a rent at Blockbuster if you liked Shall We Dance, Tampopo, A Taxing Woman, The Funeral, or any other rare splendid movie from Japan that Beat Takeshi did NOT make and star in....

Misa Shimizu plays two roles to the hilt, so to speak, and it represents the evil that men can do.....

Otherwise, get a life, and find you own.....

Rating:
Summary: a mesmerizing cinematic display
Review: The Eel begins as a violent tale of sexual jealousy, then unfolds as a character study, and eventually a comedy. Koji Yakusho plays Takuro, a tranquil man who finds his wife in bed with another man. In a violent outrage, Takuro stabs his wife repeatedly, and then turns himself in to the police. Eight years pass during the credits, starting the movie with Takuro's parole from prison, and origins of his pet eel. Takuro retires to a village, where he encounters a woman whom resmbles his resemles wife. He eventually saves her from a suicide attempt; and from then on his character parrallels the characteristics of his eel. An excellent foreign movie, brimming with originality. also reccommended: Shall we dance?

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: The Eel is a very enjoyable, often humorous and contemplatively paced (read:slow... but not unbearably so) movie. Apparently Imamura had misgivings about its presentation at (and subsequent winning of the palme d'or) Cannes, amongst the bigger budget fare (which the comments indicate he prefered to his own film... "They should recount the ballots."), but, the comments don't necessarily indicate he thinks it's a particularly bad movie, and it's perfectly normal that artists be dissatisfied with or dislike their own work.

While Imamura's comments aren't entirely baseless, (especially if you're competing with something like The Sweet Hereafter) The Eel still has merits. The acting is well done, the characters are interesting if not particularly sympathetic, and, for the most part, uniquely identifiable (never unbearably 'quirky')... The cinematography is a bit murky (although it may be the transfer) but for the most part the shots are well staged. The soundtrack is effective, but not worthy of special attention. Although, like other reviewers, I found the supposed "themes" especially vague other than what is openly stated in the movie, the vagaries don't really affect the movie, other than some confusion created by the title (really... just because a film seemingly has the pretense of meaning or fails to elucidate it, doesn't set in stone its meaninglessness or meaningfulness nor make it "good" or "bad").

(On another note, although there is some sex in the film, I didn't find it to be an especially "erotic" movie... the packaging seems to be another one of those instances where zealous marketing wizards and mistaken reviewers (both of whom probably walked out after first twenty minutes) collide.)

My experience watching film has taught me that a flawed movie shoudln't be equated with a bad one, indeed, are often more enjoyable than "perfect" movies. While I'm not prepared to deem it a masterpiece (although I doubt I'd be audacious enough to declare any movie such), it is one of the most enjoyable I've seen recently (was a nice counterpoint to lovable excess of Pirates of the Carribean, and good companion to Boilng Point).

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: The Eel is a very enjoyable, often humorous and contemplatively paced (read:slow... but not unbearably so) movie. Apparently Imamura had misgivings about its presentation at (and subsequent winning of the palme d'or) Cannes, amongst the bigger budget fare (which the comments indicate he prefered to his own film... "They should recount the ballots."), but, the comments don't necessarily indicate he thinks it's a particularly bad movie, and it's perfectly normal that artists be dissatisfied with or dislike their own work.

While Imamura's comments aren't entirely baseless, (especially if you're competing with something like The Sweet Hereafter) The Eel still has merits. The acting is well done, the characters are interesting if not particularly sympathetic, and, for the most part, uniquely identifiable (never unbearably 'quirky')... The cinematography is a bit murky (although it may be the transfer) but for the most part the shots are well staged. The soundtrack is effective, but not worthy of special attention. Although, like other reviewers, I found the supposed "themes" especially vague other than what is openly stated in the movie, the vagaries don't really affect the movie, other than some confusion created by the title (really... just because a film seemingly has the pretense of meaning or fails to elucidate it, doesn't set in stone its meaninglessness or meaningfulness nor make it "good" or "bad").

(On another note, although there is some sex in the film, I didn't find it to be an especially "erotic" movie... the packaging seems to be another one of those instances where zealous marketing wizards and mistaken reviewers (both of whom probably walked out after first twenty minutes) collide.)

My experience watching film has taught me that a flawed movie shoudln't be equated with a bad one, indeed, are often more enjoyable than "perfect" movies. While I'm not prepared to deem it a masterpiece (although I doubt I'd be audacious enough to declare any movie such), it is one of the most enjoyable I've seen recently (was a nice counterpoint to lovable excess of Pirates of the Carribean, and good companion to Boilng Point).

Rating:
Summary: Nice concept, so-so execution...
Review: This film could've been so much better: the central metaphor of the title is never fully fleshed out, the characters are always kept at such a distance that it's difficult for the viewer to really develop much of a connection or feeling for them, and the pace is plodding at best.

The supposedly climactic group-brawl near the end is so amateurish that it's unintentionally funny.

WANTED: different director, with better film editing and camera work, maybe a script editor too.

2 1/2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but haunting
Review: This is a film about human sexuality. It is not pleasant. Takuro Yamashita, played very effectively by Koji Yakusho, gets an anonymous letter telling him that his young, pretty wife is entertaining another man while he is out fishing at night, this after she lovingly prepares and packs his supper. He goes fishing but returns home early in time to catch them in medias res. In a cold rage he knifes his wife to death. He bicycles to the police station and turns himself in. Eight years later he gets out of prison. This is where our story begins.

Yamashita, now embittered toward others, and especially women, is on parole. He sets up a barber shop in a small town. He keeps a pet eel because he feels that the eel "listens" to him when he talks. One day he discovers a woman (Keiko Hattari, played by the beautiful Misa Shimizu) in some nearby bushes who has taken an overdose in a suicide attempt. He brings help and she is saved. She then enters his life as his assistant. Her presence challenges the emotional isolation he is seeking and forces him to face not only his future but his past.

The eel itself (a wet "snake") symbolizes sexuality. When this sexuality is confined it is under control. When it is let loose it is dark and deep and mysterious. Director Shohei Imamura's technique is plodding at times, and striking at others. His women are aggressive sexually even though, in the Japanese "princess" style, they may look younger than spring time. His men can be brutal. Their emotions, confined by society as the eel is confined by its tank, sometimes burst out violently.

For many viewers the pace of this film will be too slow, and for others the sexuality depicted will offend. For myself and others who are accustomed to seeing the faces of the players in long close ups on TV and in Western movies, Imamura's medium shots and disinclination to linger on the countenances of his actors will disappoint. Yakusho's face suggests the very depth and mystery that Imamura is aiming at, yet I don't think the camera lingers there enough. Also disappointing is how little we really see of Misa Shimizu's expressions. Chiho Terada, who plays the murdered wife, is also very pretty and completely convincing, but we see little of her. Her expression just before dying, a combination of shamelessness and resignation, funereal acceptance even, was unforgettable.

This is very much worth seeing, but expect to be irritated by the how slowly it unravels and by the central character's stubborn refusal to forgive both himself and his late wife, and his inability to embrace the life that is now his.