TIFF Review: INJU, THE BEAST IN THE SHADOWS

Powerful cast, compelling source material from a legendary writer, a glimpse into a closely shielded world. There are a lot of things to like about Inju, Barbet Schroeder's adaptation of Edogawa Rampo's novel of the same name. It is a strikingly formal picture, beautifully shot and constructed, loaded with a very strong Japanese cast and compelling imagery. IT also, however, has a pair of major flaws that prevent it from ever really reaching its potential.

Alex Fayard is the darling of the literary world, the young French author of a striking new crime novel that has proven to be a major critical and commercial success all around the globe. Fayard is also a man obsessed with the work of Shundei Oe, a mysterious Japanese master of dark crime novels who Fayard has consciously styled himself after - even landing a publishing deal with the same Japanese publishing house as Oe and having his book released with a cover in the exact style of his idol's. But Oe is a mystery for a reason, he is a reclusive man who has never been seen even by his publishers and many believe that his work could only come from a man with many of the same psychological and emotional problems shown by the criminals he writes about. And, as Fayard will quickly learn when he arrives for a book tour of Japan, Oe does not appreciate having a new rival for his fans' affection ...

Existing in a world of geisha and sexual bondage, Inju is a showcase of the themes that run throughout Edogawa Rampo's work. It is loaded with a sort of formal dread and high melodrama, laced with bursts of extreme violence and kinky sex. On that score Schroeder gets Rampo exactly right, which is good news for fans. But, as already mentioned there are two significant flaws.

The first is actually a flaw of the marketing, not so much with the film itself. The film's trailers include scenes from literally all of the film's most extreme moments, which creates one pretty compelling sales pitch for the picture but also a very inaccurate one. The film is far more restrained and measured than you might expect after watching the trailers. This is a major nuisance when walking into the theater but not an unforgivable - or even uncommon - one. A flaw that is fatal, however? Whatever else may be going on in Inju the narrative is still primarily a mystery and the mystery element of the film is laughably bad. There is no real tension, no believable motive, and for a supposedly brilliant, detail minded mystery writer Fayard misses a huge number of things. Why aren't the police involved? No reason. When Fayard learns that Oe is a pseudonym and what his real name supposedly is - which would make him pretty bloody simple to find - why does he never even bother to look up the real name? No reason. When Oe calls him on his cell phone why does Oe not even bother to check the incoming phone number? No reason. And on and on it goes. Schroeder was obviously drawn to Inju for its other elements, which is fair enough, but that's no excuse for simply ignoring the central narrative element of the picture, which he very clearly does.

There are enough positives to Inju to make it worth a viewing, worth a rental if it ever arrives on DVD. But the flaws of the picture are so large and so obvious that they cannot be ignored. A disappointingly mixed bag.