THE THIRD MURDER (SANDOME NO SATSUJIN). Viewed on DVD. Director Hirokazu Koreeda (who is also the script writer and movie editor) launches a gripping who-done-it mystery packed with red herrings and loose ends, but also filled with clues for the discerning viewer to contemplate and, possibly, figure out just where the truth may lie in a ocean of lies. Koreeda also provides a fascinating (if accurate) "insider's" view of murder trials as theater using a script developed in pretrial "discovery" meetings (and rewritten behind the scenes during the trial) involving defense and prosecution lawyers with the trial judge acting as a mediator (and de factor script editor) all in the name of preserving trial harmony (and scheduling)! The Director's tale concerns a recently paroled (after serving a 30-year sentence) killer who committed the first murder and may have single-handedly committed a second one. Or might not have which raises the possibility of a metaphorical "third" murder. Then there is the potential for a third murder if an innocent person is executed. Known to the police as a pathological liar, the suspect seems to have turned himself in and readily confessed to the murder of his boss who ran a shady food distribution business. There is also the boss's crippled high-school daughter who claims her father has continually raped her, and a wife who seems to willfully ignore just about everything (or maybe not). The daughter may also be a chronic liar along with her mother who may have arranged for a contract killing of her husband by the suspect (or maybe not). Then there is the possibility that the suspect and the crippled daughter (the daughter may have be crippled as a result of a failed suicide) might be lovers and have carefully planned and carried out the murder together. And/or someone else may have done the deed. It now falls to the defense lawyers to find out what may have really occurred, since police detectives and the prosecution have fully accepted the confession of the ostensible killer. (The defense lawyers are doing what the police should have done.) This is not so much a courtroom drama as it is a prisoner/lawyer interview room drama with close to half of the movie taking place in a tiny partitioned space slightly larger than an elevator chamber. The interplay between veteran actors portraying the suspect and lead defense lawyer is intense and Koreeda's directing skills are on full display. That said, the movie is bit slow here and there (especially at the beginning), and could be transitionally boring for some viewers. Flashback scenes can be confusing and could benefit from re-editing (especially the initial ones in Hokkaido). A major irritation is when the lighting director tries to show off by partially/
totally obscuring the faces of speaking actors in shadow. Surround sound fields are weak or essentially missing. Music (mostly keyboard and cello) is fine. Subtitles and translations are first rate with all signs and credits translated (a rarity for a Japanese film!). Recommended (and that's not a lie!). WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD. Details: subtitles = 10 stars; cinematography (2.35 : 1, color, DCP) = 8 stars; DVD = 8 stars; direction = 7 stars; music = 7 stars; performances = 7 stars; editing = 5 stars; lighting = 4/5 stars; sound = 4/5 stars.
Review of The Third Murder
