Retribution

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Cast & Crew

Kôji Yakusho
Noboru Yoshioka

Manami Konishi
Harue Nimura

Tsuyoshi Ihara
Detective Toru Miyaji

Hiroyuki Hirayama
Young Detective Sakurai

Joe Odagiri
Dr. Takagi

Ryô Kase
Man on a Work Boat

Riona Hazuki
Woman in Red

Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Director

Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Writer

Taka Ichise
Producer

Nobuyuki Takahashi
Film Editor

Norifumi Ataka
Art Director

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Critic Reviews for Retribution

Audience Reviews for Retribution

• Jan 02, 2009

  Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a master of minimalist horror. Like Kairo the audience has to do much of the work. We are supplied with a film that looks beautiful and on the surface has a very simple plot. As the story progresses all is not so simple and we are drawn into a more surreal and supernatural world. Despite this, Sakebi never loses it's grip on reality. The locations are sparse, industrial areas which still look heart achingly wonderful on film. The mystery slowly sucks you in but not all answers are handed to you in some 20 minute exposition speech. Kiyoshi Kurosawa also knows how not to use sound, omitting those screechy and sudden sound effects found in usual horrors. His shots are also composed in order for us to search them ourselves. Ghostly characters lurk in the background without any sound cue. Characters don't notice them until long after we have. Simple and very effective.
  Luke B Super Reviewer
• Dec 15, 2008

  Meh. Considering the director's past works, it fails to impress or scare. It's more of a slow-paced crime drama than a horror flick. As a mystery, it succeeds. The serpentine plot involving a cop accused of murder by the victim of said murder kept my interest. But the many appearances of the ghost (who was more of a monologuing banshee than your typical J-horror Onryo) in this movie made me laugh more than give me chills, and the ending left me more confused than satisfied.
  Duncan R Super Reviewer
• May 16, 2008

  Cool Japanese spooky film which is very mysteriously in the tradition of <i>The Grudge</i> and <i>The Sixth Sense</i>. I was a bit shocked at the final scene of what a woman in a red dress did to a young detective and I figured it out why she had to do it for the senior detective. You'll see when you watch it carefully.
  Dean M Super Reviewer
• Apr 20, 2008

  It was ok at best, Kiyoshi Kurosawa has a good mind for horror films but I don't think this one works as well as his previous horror movies, I certainly don't think it's better than Cure. It had some good scenes but, again, I don't think it worked as well as Cure since it features a "creepy" japanese lady and we've seen that billions of times. At least it's a whole lot better than the remake of Shutter
  Jesse O Super Reviewer

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