The Third Murder
Description
Master director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film is a tour-de-force examination of guilt and justice. A young defense attorney is called in to help with what seems like the straightforward case of an admitted killer. Misumi (the incomparable Koji Yakusho) genially claims responsibility for the murder of a wealthy factory owner but his story shifts with alarming frequency. His odd behavior raises doubts for the pragmatic lawyer who begins to suspect that Misumi is hiding a more complicated truth.
“Mystery skirts metaphysics and a courtroom turns out to be no place to determine the truth in Kore-eda Hirokazu’s mysteriously beautiful The Third Murder. Everything that is obvious and straightforward in the first scene (we even get a good look at the murderer’s face) is cast into doubt by the end of the film, posing serious questions about the judicial system and the concept of judging another human being.” – Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
“Kore-eda invites his audience to join his search, and by the time The Third Murder comes to an end, the lawyer’s need to understand becomes one’s own, as does the alienating realization that the truth may be forever beyond one’s grasp. ‘Is that what you thought I did?’ Misumi asks Shigemori after the lawyer tells him what he thinks happened the night of the murder. ‘That’s a very nice story.'” – Leonardo Goi, Cinemascope
Among Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films are Maborosi (1995); After Life (1998), winner of Best Director at Awards of the Japanese Academy; Air Doll (Festival 2010); Like Father, Like Son (2013), winner of a Jury Prize and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival; and Our Little Sister (2015), winner of Best Film and Best Director at Awards of the Japanese Academy. He says his biggest challenge in making The Third Murder was in writing the screenplay. “In order to get the kind of script that I wanted, I had seven lawyers get together over several months and had them do various, sort of, mock trials or mock interviews of the criminal and things like that. The seven lawyers were not lawyers in these small sort of theatrical events, they would be a judge or one of the lawyers was, in fact, the criminal himself. I would get them and they would act out these scenes in the courtroom and I would then take their language and incorporate in what I was writing.” (comingsoon.net)
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/258420232Film Details
Language Japanese
Year 2017
Runtime 125
Country Japan
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda
Producer Kaoru Matsuzaki, Hijiri Taguchi
Writer Hirokazu Kore-eda
Editor Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cinematographer Mikiya Takimoto
Music Ludovico Einaudi
Cast Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho, Suzu Hirose