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Synopsis

Hiroshi awakes in a hospital bed to find his memory utterly wiped away by a car accident. Once home, he comes across a medical textbook full of detailed drawings in dissection and his fascination leads him back to the medical school that he previously rejected. Once there, he becomes an object of attraction for a beautiful and brilliant fellow student, but it’s another woman who slowly becomes his obsession: The young dead woman on the cadaver table. Starting with the bird tattoo on her arm, patterns of recognition begin to click in his brain, and soon he’s having visions – or are they memories – of life with a beautiful young woman and a career as an artist, not a doctor. The deeper he cuts and the more he peels away, the closer he gets to the truth.

Review

Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto you know before you start that you’re in for a treat. Unlike his other films this seems a lot calmer… if that’s the right word. This is only short at 86 minutes, though it feels a lot longer when you’re watching it. I don’t mean that in a bad way. This is a film that draws you in from the very beginning and won’t let you go until the final credits start!

We begin Vital in a hospital where Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) is just waking up after a car accident, he’s had some form of head injury and has no memory of anything which has gone before. Back home he finds an old medical book and this reminds him of his prior wish to be a doctor. Hiroshi throws himself into his studies like a man possessed! When it comes to his dissection study we along with Hiroshi slowly realise that he knows the body which he’s dissecting. We learn that this is his girlfriend Ryoko who died in the same crash that took his memory.

As Hiroshi becomes more obsessed with carefully dissecting the body he becomes more drawn into his own mind. We see flashbacks of Hiroshi & Ryoko’s prior relationship and their love for each other as well as dreamlike sequences that appear to Hiroshi to be real and happening now.

The body dissection isn’t a gory affair as you might imagine from Tsukamoto, this film is really more about self-discovery as Hiroshi literally has no memory of himself so uses the dissection of the body as a kind of catalyst for his memory. His obsession is clear from the start; he draws every part in finest detail. It consumes his every moment and we become a little obsessed along with him!

Vital is an odd film, some people will likely find it all a little confusing! The ever-great Tadanabo Asano is, as you would expect excellent in the part, along with all the characters in fact! The direction is stunning (as you would also expect) this is really a must see film! It’s a film that doesn’t let you look away until it’s over, and once it is over will leave you thinking about it for a while! Very beautifully filmed as well… another great film from Tsukamoto!

4 out of 5

Review by Uzumaki (UK)

You can buy this movie now from sensasian.com or from yesasia

Review Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto you know before you start that you’re in for a treat. Unlike his other films this seems a lot calmer… if that’s the right word. This is only short at 86 minutes, though it feels a lot longer when you’re watching it. I don’t mean that in a bad way. This is a film that draws you in from the very beginning and won’t let you go until the final credits start! We begin Vital in a hospital where Hiroshi Takagi (Tadanobu Asano) is just waking up after a car accident, he’s had some form of head injury and has no memory of anything which has gone before. Back home he finds an old medical book and this reminds him of his prior wish to be a doctor. Hiroshi throws himself into his studies like a man possessed! When it comes to his dissection study we along with Hiroshi slowly realise that he knows the body which he’s dissecting. We learn that this is his girlfriend Ryoko who died in the same crash that took his memory. As Hiroshi becomes more obsessed with carefully dissecting the body he becomes more drawn into his own mind. We see flashbacks of Hiroshi & Ryoko’s prior relationship and their love for each other as well as dreamlike sequences that appear to Hiroshi to be real and happening now. The body dissection isn’t a gory affair as you might imagine from Tsukamoto, this film is really more about self-discovery as Hiroshi literally has no memory of himself so uses the dissection of the body as a kind of catalyst for his memory. His obsession is clear from the start; he draws every part in finest detail. It consumes his every moment and we become a little obsessed along with him! Vital is an odd film, some people will likely find it all a little confusing! The ever-great Tadanabo Asano is, as you would expect excellent in the part, along with all the characters in fact! The direction is stunning (as you would also expect) this is really a must see film! It’s a film that doesn’t let you look away until it’s over, and once it is over will leave you thinking about it for a while! Very beautifully filmed as well… another great film from Tsukamoto! 4 out of 5 Review by Uzumaki (UK) You can buy this movie now from sensasian.com or from yesasia www.koroshiya.co.uk for all your Asian film reviews!