This feels like another variation of justice *versus* the legal system.
The film contains a number of metaphoric and literal reflections, the superimposing images of the plaintiff and his lawyer most notably at the end, but even before then we find the lawyer pushed deeper past a sense of "how do I help my client" to "why is my client here."
There is also a parallel between plaintiff and victim, they share conflict between their daughters (we never really see the victim, well at least not face up - but as the film goes on his reputation is similarly treated as his body is in the first scene).
The back story on the plaintiff is a bit convoluted, and it even gets twisted around the lawyer's father and an older case of two murders. The film more than hints at a notion of justifiable homicide at times, but in a subtle sense to me felt like an indictment of decorum.
I left the film with a sort of hung jury feeling, but the key to one enjoying it likely lies in how they feel about Koji Yakusho's portrayal of the enigmatic Misumi.
The film contains a number of metaphoric and literal reflections, the superimposing images of the plaintiff and his lawyer most notably at the end, but even before then we find the lawyer pushed deeper past a sense of "how do I help my client" to "why is my client here."
There is also a parallel between plaintiff and victim, they share conflict between their daughters (we never really see the victim, well at least not face up - but as the film goes on his reputation is similarly treated as his body is in the first scene).
The back story on the plaintiff is a bit convoluted, and it even gets twisted around the lawyer's father and an older case of two murders. The film more than hints at a notion of justifiable homicide at times, but in a subtle sense to me felt like an indictment of decorum.
I left the film with a sort of hung jury feeling, but the key to one enjoying it likely lies in how they feel about Koji Yakusho's portrayal of the enigmatic Misumi.