If you have been reading my previous reviews you may wonder what I consider to be my number one favorite Japanese movie of all time. Well, I believe that choosing a number one favorite movie is kind of meaningless, because a number one favorite is based purely on subjective experience and it changes all the time. However, every once in a while I’ll have find a favorite movie that sticks in my mind for a very long time. If you were to ask me right now what my favorite Japanese movie (and maybe favorite out of ALL movies) is, I could easily say that it is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1997 psychological thriller film Cure. Through this review, I can hopefully explain what makes this film so special and convince someone to check it out.
Story
This film follows police detective Kenichi Takabe (played by Kōji Yakusho) as he investigates a series of murders in which each victim has an X carved into their neck, but the murderer is different each time and they all turn themselves in after committing the crime. Kenichi soon figures out that every killer has the common thread of having come into contact with a man named Mamiya shortly before the murder. Mamiya is a very enigmatic figure, and he seems to have short term memory loss. Through Kenichi’s interrogations of Mamiya, we see Mamiya slowly picking away at Kenichi’s psyche, and the border between mind and reality gets smaller and smaller. Meanwhile, Kenichi’s wife is struggling with psychological problems of her own, bringing him closer and closer to the edge of insanity.
What I Like
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is perhaps best known for his horror films, particularly ones involving ghosts like in his films Pulse and Séance. While this film doesn’t fit into the category of pure horror, his style blends perfectly well into the psychological thriller genre. This is the type of movie where tension builds and builds and every little detail really gets into your head. Every scene with Mamiya is captivating, and the actor (Masato Hagiwara), does an amazing job at giving the character a mysterious and charismatic presence. This movie had me on edge the entire time. We see scenes of the interactions that Mamiya has with people that drive them to commit murder and all of those scenes are mesmerizing and filled with an unmatched tension. This movie is masterful with how it creates tension, and we the viewer feel hypnotized, just as Mamiya hypnotizes his victims. Being a psychological thriller, this film perfectly blends the tension and the breakdown of the human mind to create one of the most uncomfortable and hypnotic experiences that I have ever seen. One recurring scene is where Kenichi comes home and his wife leaves the dryer on. The pounding, pulsating sound of the dryer at first doesn’t bother us, but as the film goes on and it keeps happening, it feels as if it is digging into our mind just as it is digging into the mind of the main character.
The thing that this movie does best above any other movie I’ve seen is tension. I have never felt so tense and uncomfortable from watching a movie as I did while watching Cure. The thing that elevates this film in my mind from a just great psychological thriller to a masterpiece and my favorite Japanese film of all time is with how the movie ends. I won’t spoil it here but the ending of this film left me staring at the credits with a feeling that I have never experienced anywhere else.
Final Thoughts
If you have an extreme aversion to tense or scary movies then maybe this movie isn’t for you, but if not then I highly recommend this movie. Preferably watched late in the evening when it’s dark. I wouldn’t call this a horror movie, but the mood of this movie definitely calls for it to be watched in a dark room. If you watch this movie and like it, then I would also recommend other movies by director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, particularly his film Pulse. Hopefully I’ve properly explained why I love this movie so much and inspired at least one person to watch this movie.