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You'll
see a lot of this shot in the movie
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Another
in the usually vibrant Japanese subgenre of psychological horror,
"Angel Dust" has all the hallmarks of its kin. Stark, gritty
photography, detached pacing and emphasis on characterization encompassing
a solid thriller hook. In Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Cure", it
was unrelated victims slashed with an "X". In the soon-to-be-remade
"The Ring", all the victims had viewed a mysterious videotape.
In "Angel Dust", all the victims were young women who were
poisoned by a hypodermic during crowded periods on the subway on Mondays.
Unfortunately, "Angel Dust" begins like a lot of bad psycho-thriller
movies. Stop me if this sounds familiar. A beautiful detective Setsuko
(Kaho Minami) trained in psychology is thrown into the investigation
because she gets 'feelings' from being around the victims. We have
the obligatory autopsy scene. We have troubles with the woman gaining
acceptance with the male dominated police force. It is as hackneyed
as it sounds, though these trappings are dispensed with in shorthand
fashion. Director Shogo Ishii seems to use these cliches only to
set up the meditation on psychology that makes "Angel Dust"
a frustrating bore.
Recognizably
due to its genre, "Angel Dust" is a study on mood and
atmosphere that is comparable to "Cure". Long, harshly
lit shots that settle on one or two characters. Overly saturated
framing of the eyes. Cosmetically, then, "Angel Dust"
does put you into the mood where you can spend a lot of time thinking
about the psychology of both the murders and the investigator. It
is composition that requires patience, though in this case the wait
is unrewarded.
Almost
as soon as the investigation begins, the psychologist recognizes
a connection with a man in her past, a black sheep researcher named
Aku (Takeshi Wakamatsu) who specializes in "re-brainwashing"
former cultists through deprivation techniques. Now married, Setsuko
is wary of meeting Aku again. When they meet it should seem to the
audience why she should be afraid. The man speaks extremely slowly
and entirely in psychobabble.
The
majority of the movie then becomes a series of meetings between
the two psycho-intellectuals. She seeks insight into the murders
while he wants to reexamine why they are no longer in sleeping together.
That seemed to be the gist of it. Of course, it was supposed to
also unveil the meaning behind the murders (something to do with
failing to recognize your true identity) but the effect was to bring
the 'thriller' aspect to a screeching halt.
One
might argue that you have to accept the mood and pacing in order
to get into the depth of the movie in the same way you have to be
extremely silly to go along with the earnestness of "The Attack
of the Clones". However, composition aside, there is no denying
that the two characters were largely talking shit.
Even
as developments brought the actual murder investigation and the
jousting psychologists closer together, "Angel Dust" seemed
to end with more of a tying up loose threads. Subplots with the
lead male investigator, a weird discovery involving Setsuko's husband,
and even the identity of the murderer seemed hurriedly concluded.
This
is unfortunate because "Angel Dust" does contain some
interesting setups involving the murders. In a couple interesting
scenes (which should be of note to budding guerrilla filmmakers),
the 'victim' (an actress) 'dies' in the center of a public area
amidst hundreds of people going about their daily lives who become
unwitting extras. Shocked by the collapse of the women, they rush
to her aid. I could imagine the production assistants quickly dispersing
the crowd with a cheery bow and quick explanation: "nothing
to see here. Move along."
On
DVD.
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