Cinema Prescription

Synopsis: A well-known attorney takes on the defense of a murder suspect who freely admits his guilt. As he digs deeper into the case, he begins to doubt whether his client is the murderer. (Google)
Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho, Suzu Hirose, Yuki Saito, Kotaro Yoshida, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Izumi Matsuoka, Mikako Ichikawa, Isao Hashizume
Screenplay: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Directed by: Hirokazu Kore-eda

A talky legal murder mystery is something that one would have not expected from Hirokazu Kore-eda, the proclaimed modern day’s Yasujiro Ozu, whose repertoire mostly includes family-themed stories. Fresh from winning 6 Japan Academy Prize awards (Japan’s equivalent to Oscar) including Best Film, THE THIRD MURDER sees Kore-eda tackling a new territory in the form of a courtroom drama, where a lawyer faces doubts when his client, an already-confessed convicted killer, constantly changes his version of the crime.

Anchored by great performances from Fukuyama and Yakusho, as the lawyer and the defendant, respectively, THE THIRD MAN focuses more on the character developments and motivations rather than the mystery of whodunit. Kore-eda also injects his criticism of Japanese judicial system, which drove its way into the bigger question of the nature of human-made law, especially the death penalty; should anyone have that much of control over someone’s life, or death, in that matter?

Although there are a lot that can be appreciated from this change of pace from Kore-eda (his stylish direction, artistic cameraworks, engrossing interrogation scenes, and the wonderful perfomances by the cast), the final result seems colder and more somber than his former works. Not all of the elements perfectly came together in the end, sometimes felt dragged out, and left me somewhat less satisfied. That being said, I wouldn’t classify it as a misfire. THE THIRD MURDER is still a pretty solid slow-burner quest for truth and moral ambiguity. And for longtime fans, no need to worry, for there are still fragments of his usual humanist & familial tropes here and there. [B/B-]

A copy of my review on Instagram.