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spooky_coochie's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
has a few great moments really dissecting how ridiculously high standards are for women and how men will completely disregard a woman's personhood in favor of their fantasy. Aoyama can only think of women as a dichotomy of good and bad, despite being told - "nice person, bad person, that's not the level this girl is at," and his eventual concession that she "was not a nice girl, but that was how he decided to think of her."
And OF COURSE the final third goes hard.
But I hate to say, Takashi Miike's film adaptation really elevates the source material. For starters, the tension building doesn't really work as well in the book - probably because we're really only in Aoyama's mind, and not getting things like flashes of Asami waiting by the phone or feeding vomit to a tongueless bag man (who is not present in the book at all).
It's fine that the violence and horror isn't as overt in the book, but it is so very unsubtle about Asami's motivations by the end. As Aoyama is being poisoned, he stops a moment and spells out Asami's entire psyche - oh, she must hate men because of her abuse and therefore wants to remove their feet just like her stepdad who molested her blah blah blah. It goes on for a page or so explaining everything in no uncertain terms. Like, thanks, I gathered that. And it's so unnatural, too - why would he have this moment pondering her entire schtick and thoroughly psychoanalyzing her when he's minutes from getting gored? Perhaps the bluntness is partially a translation issue, but even then, I think Miike draws this out much better. The film's not exactly subtle in how it connects the dots between Asami's past and her violent tendencies, but it's a bit more artful than this.
Anyways, I hate to say but I'd probably like this better had I not already seen the film adaptation. In comparison, this feels like...a half-baked treatment of the film script. Which obviously isn't the case, but...
also, and this is of course not Ryu Murakami's fault, I really cannot get over how atrociously bad this release's cover art is!!!! My other thought is that, based on how he's written women in the books by him I've read, Haruki Murakami totally would have fallen for Asami's shtick and had his feet removed lol
And OF COURSE the final third goes hard.
But I hate to say, Takashi Miike's film adaptation really elevates the source material. For starters, the tension building doesn't really work as well in the book - probably because we're really only in Aoyama's mind, and not getting things like flashes of Asami waiting by the phone or feeding vomit to a tongueless bag man (who is not present in the book at all).
It's fine that the violence and horror isn't as overt in the book, but it is so very unsubtle about Asami's motivations by the end. As Aoyama is being poisoned, he stops a moment and spells out Asami's entire psyche - oh, she must hate men because of her abuse and therefore wants to remove their feet just like her stepdad who molested her blah blah blah. It goes on for a page or so explaining everything in no uncertain terms. Like, thanks, I gathered that. And it's so unnatural, too - why would he have this moment pondering her entire schtick and thoroughly psychoanalyzing her when he's minutes from getting gored? Perhaps the bluntness is partially a translation issue, but even then, I think Miike draws this out much better. The film's not exactly subtle in how it connects the dots between Asami's past and her violent tendencies, but it's a bit more artful than this.
Anyways, I hate to say but I'd probably like this better had I not already seen the film adaptation. In comparison, this feels like...a half-baked treatment of the film script. Which obviously isn't the case, but...
also, and this is of course not Ryu Murakami's fault, I really cannot get over how atrociously bad this release's cover art is!!!! My other thought is that, based on how he's written women in the books by him I've read, Haruki Murakami totally would have fallen for Asami's shtick and had his feet removed lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, and Misogyny
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