The Third Murder [Blu-ray]

This movies got under my skin and I felt the need to watch it again immediately after finnishing it. This is a court-room drama like you've never seen before, with Kore-eda's poetry in motion. The score, acting an cinematography is amazing. This movie was haunting me for a long time after watching it.There are two Extras that are really worth watching: Tony Rayns' 38 minute talk about the Japanese justice system (and how it is presented in Japanese movies), and an informative Making-of. It also comes with a nice booklet with a Tony Rayns essay.This movie loses one star because I'm convinced essential information is lost in translation - I mean the English subtitling, making the movie even more, and unintendedly, confusing. Example: at one point they talk about "the last murder". It then becomes clear they were referring to the murder that occured 30 years earlier. This is a minor issue, though. A much bigger deal is what is meant by referring to murderer as a 'vessel'. A 'vessel'? Come on... It 's frustrating, because I'm sure the Japanese phrase must have much more meaning/connotations than that, but as a non-Japanese speaking viewer, I'm a bit lost here...One more issue: in the making-of, it becomes clear that Kore-eda was struggling with the script. He even re-wrote it during the filming. I'm not sure, of course, but could that be the reason why we never learn about what happened to the murderer's wife (like his parents, "she died a horrible death"). Is that a hole in the script, or a deliberate loose end?

This is a review of the 2018 Region B2 ‘Special Edition’ Blu-ray from Arrow Academy. This is the usual superb Arrow quality, and the English subtitles are particularly clear and readable, which is important here.Well, here’s a novelty! A Japanese Courtroom Drama! And what a stonkingly good film it is! We were already familiar with the wonderful films of director/writer/editor Hirokazu Kore-eda, through two of his other works, both excellent but very different: the memorable, bitter-sweet ‘Shoplifters’(2018) and the warm, endearing and quite magical ‘Our Little Sister’(2015). So this 2017 film, clearly again very different in content, but like the others a contemporary drama, was a must-see.Like ‘Shoplifters’, this film is a surprise, in part because there is a view that Japan is a very safe, law-abiding country. So to begin the film (throughout which, importantly, there is not a Yakuza in sight!) with a murder, is a bit of a shock. But this is the only violence. Because the rest of the film is not a ‘Who Dunnit?’ (because we know ~ or we think we know ~ or OF COURSE we know ~ or DO we know?) but a ‘Why Dunnit?’ ~ unless it actually IS a ‘Who Dunnit?’.This is a highly complex, absolutely fascinating and very cerebral film. Playing the Perry Mason role, of Tomoaki Shigemori, defence lawyer and also hunter after the truth, is Masaharu Fukuyama, a well-known Japanese TV actor and singer-songwriter. He is excellent, as the intense, measured seeker after both justice and the truth, deeply frustrated by both the apparently inflexible Japanese legal system and flaws in the investigation and prosecution of his client, Misumi. Misumi is played by Kōji Hashimoto, a prolific and versatile Japanese actor. Here, he is wonderfully enigmatic, stoical and frustratingly evasive as the man we saw committing the murder at the start. They are supported by several other excellent actors, particularly the young and extremely talented Suzu Hirose, who played the titular lead in Kore-eda’s ‘Our Little Sister’, two years before. She is the teenaged daughter of the murdered man, another baffling character who ties Shigemori in knots.Also clearly on trial in this film, is Japan’s criminal code. It becomes apparent that Japan occasionally still imposes the Death Penalty, particularly for multiple murders or if the offence is aggravated. Shigemori, his colleagues and his father, a retired Judge, devote considerable time to discussing the philosophy and morality of sentencing, in robust terms.So, what do we know? What does Shigemori know? Can we, can he, be certain? Kore-eda is clearly ruminating here on the nature of truth. What is truth? Can truth be fluid? Could there be more than one truth? And are there more important things than truth? Could the third murder, for Misumi, actually be the murder of the truth? A fabulous 5 Stars.

A brilliant helping of mystery, guilt, redemption and the dilemma of personal morality. I challenge anyone not to be moved by this extroadinary story.

This is a superb movie by any standards. Excellent acting. Potent story. Makes you feel and think and stays with you long after the end.

A thoughtful and thought provoking drama about a lawyer delving into an apparently open and shut case of murder committed by his client. The story evolves gradually and the acting is good. It is not a thriller/action film. It lasts 2hours .

I LIKE ASIAN MOVIES,AND I HAVE BOUGT OF THEMIT IS NEVER A DOLL MOMENT,ACTION,SUSPENCE,AND GOD ACTORS ,DOING IT WELL.

slow burner, thought provoking, with excellent performances from the 2 lead characters

Overly puzzling,long and boring.Worth watching once but not owning.