VILLAIN DVD Review

Before Villain, Lee Sang-il graced these pages with his feel-good, shaggy dog story Hula Girls. If there is a polar opposite to that film, Lee has found it. Villain is a dark, emotion packed drama that plumbs the dark side of the modern lonely young adults in Japan. The film almost plays like a thriller, except that there isn't quite as much tension as there is emotional depth. This dark twist on Bonnie & Clyde/Charlie Starkweather & Caril Ann Fugate takes several twists and turns that you don't see coming, and keeps the viewer guessing almost until the very final moments. Third Window brought this film to the UK last summer and, unfortunately, it bombed at the box office.  Nonetheless, this DVD is definitely recommended not only for the outstanding film, but also the solid supplemental material contained therein.

Yuichi (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a construction worker who has lived his entire life in a dreary fishing village. With no girlfriend or friends, he spends his days working and looking after his grandparents, with no enjoyment in life other than his car. Meanwhile, Mitsuyo (Eri Fukatsu) also lives a monotonous life pacing between the men s clothing store where she works and the apartment where she lives with her sister. When the two lonely souls meet using an online dating site, they immediately fall in love with each other. But there s a secret Yuichi had been keeping from Mitsuyo: Yuichi is the one suspected of killing the woman whose body was found at Mitsue Pass only a few days before...

As Yuichi and his new lover try to elude the police, the events that led up to the murder and its aftermath are revealed. We learn the stories of the victim, the murderer, and their families - stories of loneliness, love hotels, violence and desperation, exposing the inner lives of men and woman who are not everything they appear to be.

As I mentioned above, this is a lovers-on-the-run film with a twist.  The film stars Eri Fukatsu (Bayside Shakedown) as Mitsuyo, a lonely young woman who has turned to online dating to meet someone, and Satoshi Tsumabuki (Waterboys) as Yuichi, a similarly lonely boy who meets up with Mitsuyo through e-mail. We get a sense of unease as their relationship meanders through some very sketchy territory, but they evolve to a point of bizarre equilibrium.

To say much more would be giving away too much, IMO, however, a have comments from a few of my fellow writers here to back up my love for this unusual films,

Overall Villain is a strong film with a clear goal in mind. Know that you need to get through the first hour, trusting Lee that the second half will be much richer and better. Lee could've payed a bit more attention to the audiovisual side, which is decent but a little underdeveloped, but overall Villain is a strong and powerful film that messes with the viewer's emotional state in a very sneaky way. Recommended watching.  - Eight Rooks

I also hold a lot of love for this film. Definitely a slow-burn but a thoroughly rewarding one. Highly recommended.  - James Marsh

At two hours and nineteen minutes, Villain does require a bit of patience.  The first hour of the film is a lot of scene setting and character development and not a lot of action.  However, once the film turns the corner, it all gels very effectively, much in the same way that Love Exposure does. I think this is well worth watching for any fan of quirky Japanese drama/thrillers, and it's cheap, so pick it up!

The Disc:

This is probably the best looking DVD that Third Window has produced during the second half of this year. With several low budget films in their 3rd quarter 2011 sack, Villain represents a more polished film than we've seen from Third Window since probably Confessions in the first part of the year.  The transfer improves when judged against the recent Third Window releases accordingly.  The real shame here is that the box office failure of the film in the UK led to a cancelation of the proposed Blu-ray, which would have looked fantastic for a film like this.  However, I can live with this DVD.  The audio is also very good, though the surround track isn't terribly active, the dialogue and effects are fairly clear throughout.  Overall, a solid A/V presentation.

One of the primary advantages of picking up Third Window's R2 DVD of Villain is the inclusion of some quality extras.  First of all, there is the hour long making-of featurette which was originally included on the Japanese DVD which has since been deleted. This featurette looks mainly at the composition of the film and the editing process.  Nearly an hour was cut from the film after Lee Sang-il composed his first cut, and this piece explores why pieces were cut and how it helps the flow of the film, sometimes, to remove material that is extraneous or overly expository. Very cool stuff.  The other big extra is a half-hour conversation betwee Lee Sang-il and star Satoshi Tsumabaki over dinner.  This is a jovial and conversational look at the film, its genesis, and the relationship between the two artists which began with their collaboration on Waterboys.  The bonus material on this disc, as usual for Third Window, is a step beyond the typical EPK material and always worth checking out. 

Third Window remains among the best curated film collection in the world and Villain isn't going to break that streak.  Definitely recommended.