KILLING (2019)
Welcome to the edge of the blade. And welcome back Tsukamoto fans. In some ways the culmination of what had come before, Killing includes further development of the themes of manhood and violence found in Tokyo Fist. The harsh, occasionally cheap looking, digital photography from Fires on the Plain has become appropriately muted and visually interesting. Tsukamoto himself delivers one of his best performances, as a mature authority figure instead of a confused younger leading man. And sadly this is the final film scored by Chu Ishikawa who died during production. The rapid percussion and hypnotic tones that accompanied so many fever dream narratives will be sorely missed. It’s a melancholy tale for this reason, but of course the contents of the story as a whole are pretty sombre.
