Vital (2004)

After a tragic car accident where his girlfriend Ryôko Ooyama (Nami Tsukamoto) died, Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) suffers amnesia with his memories completely blanked. When he sees a book about dissection, he decides to join the medical school with the support of his parents. In the dissection class, his group participates of the autopsy of a young woman, and while cutting apart the tissue, he partially recalls his accident. Later, when he sees a tattoo in the arm of the corpse, he discloses that she was his girlfriend and becomes obsessed to go further in the examination of the body.This is the first work of director Shinya Tsukamoto that I have had the chance to watch, and I liked very much what I saw. This weird, original and fascinating story is disclosed in an adequate pace and supported by wonderful work of camera and lighting. The central lead cast trio, with Tadanobu Asano, Nami Tsukamoto and Kiki, together with the supportive cast, have also great performances. I intend to see this movie again in a near future, since I saw a DVD spoken in Japanese with English subtitles and therefore I may have missed details on the magnificent image. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Not Available"

This film really gave me an impression and was for myself a very memorable experience.Like many others i was also quite surprised about the emotional and gentle character of this film. Before starting to watch i prepared myself for something extreme and uncompromising like i experienced in many Shinya Tsukamoto's films. But that is a good thing for this film; making it possible to reach a broader audience. And it definitely deserves it.Technically this film is superb. Lighting and camera were excellent .. and the colors ... Sound design and music weren't that demonstrative but still played, in a subtle way, an important role. Acting was also impressive. Tadanobu Asano, one of my favorite actor since Ichi the killer, was a perfect fit. Nami Tsukamoto was very scary, in a good way ;). But she doesn't have a record at IMDb yet. I wonder why .. her acting was very promising. And letting Kiki perform modern dance was for the atmosphere and art-style a very good idea.To sum the story up, by leaving all the artful details behind, you could say it is about the painful yearning for the loved one. This was extremely good implemented. Just everything, art, sound and acting supported the presentation of this yearning. This is one of those films you don't simply watch. You have to experience them.

Wow. This was an unbelievable film. I do so love this genre! Anyway, to me, Vital is a completely different way of telling a love story!Hiroshi has awoken from a coma suffered after a near fatal car accident that has left him without a memory. He tries desperately to piece his life back together. We learn that he was accepted to medical school before the accident, but had decided not to go. After the coma, he ends up going to med school and does exceptionally well...until cadaver class. It is here that he learns that he is dissecting his True Love! He is consumed by her and his ever bettering memory, which gives up glimpses of his happiness with his lover. We see how perfect they were for each other and the audience can feel real lose with her death.I loved the acting in this film. At the end, when Hiroshi escorts his love's coffin to be buried, I truly felt his pain and yes...almost shed a tear. It is a strange and twisted love story, but one that I enjoyed.

I was mostly disappointed with this film. I'm a fan of Tsukamoto's other work, and while this film indicates his growth as a director, and has a strong cast, I felt it had issues with pacing, and a pretty dissatisfying ending.Asano Tadanobu, normally an engaging lead, seems to be coasting through this film, brooding, mainly. Of course, maybe that's how his character was written, but I found myself wondering when it would pick up in several places and unable to identify with him.Kunimura Jun is wonderfully powerful as Ryoko's father, and I wound up wishing he was more of a central character. I also felt Ittoku Kishibe, who can conjure a truly menacing screen presence, was rather wasted as Dr. Kashiwabuchi.There are some interesting philosophical questions raised, but they are never really addressed or explored fully. I guess I'm also getting tired of the "I don't know whether I'm dreaming or awake" cliché in many movies in this genre. Plus, it's a little ham-fisted to have a character just come out and say that.Vital contains a few interesting scenes involving a dance, and some of Tsukamoto's signature music video-style strangeness in a few places, but in summary, a slow, dark film with no real scares or thrills.