I just finished watching Japanese director Takashi Miike’s installment of the Showtime series “Masters of Horror.” His piece – “Imprint” – follows an American man returning to Japan in search of a woman he promised to rescue from prostitution. His search leads him to a brothel where a disfigured prostitute tells him the tale of his lost love. The late 1800’s Japan setting is a perfect locale as the tale of prostitution, abortion, incest, murder and torture unfolds.
This film is so violent. My god! So violent, in fact, Showtime prevented its television release due to its extreme content. The most violent scene? Well, it might be the uncomfortably long (five minutes, at least!) scene of brutal torture executed on the American’s love interest(bamboo shoots and all). Of course, the foetus floating downriver is up there as well (it’s hard to rate these kinds of things on any objective scale).
Violence aside, the pacing and execution of the film is very well done. For a one hour, made for TV segment Miike took great care with the set design and costumes. Whether its an alien green sky with a silhouette hillside underneath, or a leafless tree with deep red fabric hanging from it, the images of the film give the story a fantastic, subjective feel. The eerie setting compliments the questionable narrative of the disfigured storyteller.
This is one hell of a movie. Shouldn’t be missed by anyone who loves an old-timey horror yarn. It reminded me of an updated Poe or Lovecraft tale. Of course, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about half the time.
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