A Brief Review of, "Unagi" by Shohei Imamura.

Unagi (Literally, "Eel.") is a 1997 film by Shohei Imamura. It stars Kōji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baisho and Akira Emoto. It won the Golden Palm at Cannes. (Shohei's second, a feat that's only been achieved by 6 directors I think.) It's basically a masterpiece.

Basically the lead character, whose name I can't remember because Japanese names all sound the same to me. (Imamura Takamoro Koji Kanata. Wut?) Gets a letter saying that his wife has been screwing around on him when he leaves at night to go on fishing trips. He returns home early from one of these trips to find his wife in bed with another bloke. Like a straight G, he decides to take both of them out. Then, being a typical Japanese guy, he decides to turn himself into the police. He spends the next 8 years in jail. Upon being released, he is given a job as a barber by his parole officer. He also is given an eel that had kept as a pet while in prison. That's the beginning in short.

Basically this guy, right, like, talks to his Eel. It's basically his only friend and stuff. Eventually, a young girl comes to be his assistant in the barbershop. He is cold to her for the most part. Things unfold, and eventually a interwoven series of events lead to a lot of really good drama. The film is really well written. It was based off the novel, "On Parole" Akira Yoshimura. The drama is really subdued.

This isn't a film that most, "HUR DUR DID YOU SEE THE AVENGERS? I LOVE HOW DARK THE NOLAN BATMAN MOVIES WERE." American people are going to get. Honestly, even I had to force myself to pay attention at certain parts. With that said, it isn't slow or boring. It really captures that feeling of being on probation/parole well. There's a certain tension that's felt throughout the film as the main character struggles to interact with the people around him. You'll have to check it out. I especially recommend this film to anyone whose spent any meaningful amount of time in jail/prison. You'll know what I mean. Here's a link to the film.

 You'll need something like Vuze or MuTorrent to retrieve it. Remember to buy these films and support the people that made them, but if you're broke like me...

http://goo.gl/YElvh

I give it 5/5 Stars. It's beautiful. It's subdued, but it's beautiful. Especially the photography. (I'm aware that this is probably the worst film review ever. Still, go watch this.)

  "Rock music is based on Fifthsee power chords. I wonder if there's a Film version of playing power chords. I'd like to make a film with power chords. What's the film equivalent of a Marshall stack?"