The amount of weekly outings The multiple options of streaming have led us to a whirlwind of almost unfathomable content, where every new cinematic thing is just an outdated trend ready to be swallowed up in a short time by the voracity of the media themselves. virality phenomenon. But at the same time, these video on demand platforms can also be used to recover these forgotten titles which have not had public approval at a time when Asian films did not have much place in our audiovisual market. Today we save from memory one of the best films of serial killers of the 90s which is only available in the Prime Video catalog.
We are talking about Heala Japanese psychological thriller that will keep you glued to the screen through a multi-person affair macabre homicides. Directed by the double winner of Cannes in the cinema section A certain look, Kiyoshi KurosawaThe film can be classified into the subgenre of J-horror (Japanese horror), where crime stories are told with supernatural elements which were a real trend in Asian cinema. towards the end of the 20th century. And unlike other serial killer films, Heal It is a psychological labyrinth that, in a way, exposes a dark social critique of its time, as disturbing as asphyxiating in construction an atmosphere that will delight those who, for example, appreciated the recent Long legs. This setting and genre would be something that Kurosawa himself would continue to explore in later years’ productions such as Charisma, The spider’s eyes And Presentiment. But… what is it about? Heal?
A special story of serial killers
The official synopsis of Heal It says the following: “Police officer Takabe is investigating strange murders. The victims appear with a stab in the shape of an “X” and the culprits are completely normal people, with no reason to have committed these crimes. However, Takabe begins to suspect that something or someone is inciting people to commit such acts.
Although a story that dazzled international audiences, this tale of serial killers didn’t make much of an impact on the awards circuit, almost anecdotally receiving a nomination for Best Actor in a supporting role for Masato Hagiwara at the Japanese Oscars. Kôji Yakusho is the protagonist, while Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Denden, Yoriko Douguchi, Yukijiro Hotaru, Ren Osugi, Masahiro Toda and Akira Otaka They complete the rest of the cast.
“Cure” and loss of identity
Usually in movies about serial killers, certain archetypes are pretty delineated. The figure of the detectivethe murderer… but in Heal The most worrying thing is that the perpetrators of these crimes do not even remember committing them. And it is precisely in the construction of this ecosystem where Kurosawa composes a whole series of careful shots, where the sound effects add the icing on the cake to a feeling of unease in the minds of the spectators.
In the same way and with an effective capacity to immerse the spectators in the story, Heal talks about the nature of evil and how this obsession and this influence They can influence people’s decision-making. Heal It’s horror and yet, beyond its scares and artfully created tension, it represents a kind of thoughtful storytelling beyond the conventional horror we know.
Psychological pressure, mystery and the darkness of the human soul They represent a cocktail that leaves the viewer in shock in its duration of just over an hour and a half. Of course, as in all these types of films, you should not be very attached to the resolution and the granting of answers, since not all the mysteries proposed in Kiyoshi’s scenario are revealed at the end of the story. Yakusho’s face will be very familiar to the most attentive moviegoers of current cinema, since he is the protagonist of perfect daysthe Japanese proposal praised by Wim Wenders and nominated at the last edition of the Oscars in the category Best International Film.
Heal is available in Main video and for the moment, it has not landed on more competing platforms.
