As a horror movie, "Yogen" does disappoint -- the effects are hokey, and many aspects of the plot are poorly laid out (or not dealt with at all). But what impressed me about this film is, the human relationships are so real and moving, I kept forgetting I was watching a horror movie. I've rarely seen such powerful acting in a genre flick; the protagonist and his ex-wife are incredibly vulnerable and rawly expressive. I loved this movie in spite of its weaknesses. It emphasized the REAL reasons why horror scares us: because we fear the loss of love, because we feel guilty when bad things happen, because we fear being alone.
Never mind horror -- I cried when Hiroshi Mikami (the extraordinary actor who plays the protagonist) thought he heard his dead little girl calling his name, and his reactions -- shock, terror, disbelief, slowly rising hope, cathartic joy and sobbing relief, followed by horror, grief and anguish -- just broke my heart. Noriko Sakai, who plays his ex-wife, is equally powerful, especially in the scene where the estranged couple finally stop blaming themselves and each other, and come back together.
I very much hope we'll see more of these two wonderful actors, in films more worthy of their talents than this one. But this one isn't bad, by any means -- the screenplay, in particular, is a lot better than you usually get for a genre horror movie in translation. (A Japanese speaker might disagree with me there, but despite clunky subtitles, you could still get the gist of some pretty subtle and humane dialogue for a horror flick.) I'd recommend this movie for the acting, and again, I hope to see Hiroshi Mikami and Noriko Sakai in more, and better, films.
Never mind horror -- I cried when Hiroshi Mikami (the extraordinary actor who plays the protagonist) thought he heard his dead little girl calling his name, and his reactions -- shock, terror, disbelief, slowly rising hope, cathartic joy and sobbing relief, followed by horror, grief and anguish -- just broke my heart. Noriko Sakai, who plays his ex-wife, is equally powerful, especially in the scene where the estranged couple finally stop blaming themselves and each other, and come back together.
I very much hope we'll see more of these two wonderful actors, in films more worthy of their talents than this one. But this one isn't bad, by any means -- the screenplay, in particular, is a lot better than you usually get for a genre horror movie in translation. (A Japanese speaker might disagree with me there, but despite clunky subtitles, you could still get the gist of some pretty subtle and humane dialogue for a horror flick.) I'd recommend this movie for the acting, and again, I hope to see Hiroshi Mikami and Noriko Sakai in more, and better, films.
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