Vengeance Is Mine

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

Movie Info

Based on the true story, 'Vengeance is Mine' is the story of Iwao Enokizu and his murderous rampage which sparked a 78-day nationwide manhunt. Enokizu is a day-laborer and smalltime con-artist who, after killing two of his co-workers, embarks on a psychopathic spree of rape and murder. Eluding the police and public, Japan's infamous "King of Criminals" passes himself off as a Kyoto University professor, only to become entangled with an innkeeper and her perverted mother.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:

Shohei Imamura
Written By:

Masaru Baba, Ryuzo Saki
In Theaters:

Oct 17, 1979 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

May 15, 2007
Runtime:

139 minutes
Studio:

Shochiku Films Ltd.

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Cast

Ken Ogata
as Iwao Enokizu

Mayumi Ogawa
as Haru Asano

Rentaro Mikuni
as Shizuo Enokizu

Mitsuko Baisho
as Kazuko Enokizu

Nijiko Kiyokawa
as Hisano Asano

Chocho Miyako
as Kayo Enokizu

Moeko Ezawa

Toshie Negishi

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Critic Reviews for Vengeance Is Mine

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (2) | DVD (1)

The film gathers fearful force.

Nov 7, 2018 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic
[Director Shohei] Imamura is a poet of the harsh, a tour guide to horrific mystery.

Jan 3, 2018 | Full Review…

Paul Attanasio
Washington Post
Top Critic
Held together by simply stunning central performances by Ogata and Mayumi Ogawa, this is a most welcome, unforgettable treat from Japan's true crime cupboard.

Apr 26, 2019 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Paul Dale
The List
[VIDEO ESSAY] a richly woven polemic that encompasses turbulent generational shifts in Japanese identity caused by World War II. Iwao Enokizu isn't waiting for God to make things right when only everything is wrong.

Jan 8, 2015 | Rating: A+ | Full Review…

Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
In a way, if we're tracking influences, Imamura probably had a little impact on the Coen Brothers' misanthropic masterpieces.

Dec 29, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
Although the film doesn't feel as groundbreaking now as it likely once had, Ogata's nuanced performance shouldn't be missed.

Nov 3, 2014 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

Austin Trunick
Under the Radar
The title sounds more like a violent soap opera than a serious challenge to contemporary culture, but that's exactly what it is. Imamura injects an air of inevitability into Enokizu's spree, and projects his own commentary into the situation.

Oct 6, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Eric Melin
Lawrence.com
as messy as murder itself, Vengeance is Mine maps out the darker corners of a nation in transition and unwilling to confront its past directly.

Aug 10, 2007 | Full Review…

Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
In Vengeance Is Mine, Imamura seeks to demarcate a position outside of all of the conventional Japanese identity, and so his viewpoint, like Enokizu, evades capture.

Feb 11, 2006 | Full Review…

Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Gripping and haunting, it's a strikingly timeless film.

Sep 30, 2005 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…

Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Quite literally, Imamura has created here a protagonist that's impossible to put easily to rest, and the ramifications of his examination reflect upon us all by showing how much we're willing to ignore to achieve piece of mind.

Jul 16, 2003 | Rating: 83/100 | Full Review…

Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com

View All Critic Reviews (12)

Audience Reviews for Vengeance Is Mine

Jul 10, 2011

Whereas in conventional moviemaking psychological flashbacks, backgrounds, a non-linear storytelling and almost forgotten memoirs would help the attentive viewer to gather the puzzle pieces together and build the final image/meaning, Imamura smartly places them leaving unanswered questions and unclear motives. He attempts to create a Melville-like urban environment, but instead of being a random collection of scenes, the most intelligent thing he did with the movie was placing a central idea: trascendence has absolutely no relation with the earthly life, and what may be judged with earthly principles here, may not be judged equally in the afterlife (interpret that with the Divine Law, Heaven or whatever otherwordly ideal suits you). That's why the bones get caught in the sky, gravityless. 99/100

Edgar C Super Reviewer
Oct 03, 2010

A strange title "Vengeance Is Mine"when it should be "Anatomy of a Murderer" as thats what we get for two hours; 78 days in the murderous life of Iwao Enokizu, cut with parallel stories of his family and a few flashbacks to his youth. Shohei Imamura lays it on the line, there's no cop-out here of poor misunderstood killer, the man was a psychopath in the true sense of the word. .

Lesley N Super Reviewer
Sep 30, 2010

It is based on a true story, but somehow it just didn't make any sense. It doesn't attempt to give any answers or insight into the killers motives and psyche, and maybe that's the intention of the director, I don't know. But in my opinion that doesn't make it a very good movie.

Saskia D Super Reviewer
Oct 22, 2009

I was hooked all the way to the very end

Brody M Super Reviewer