Directed by:
Nobuhiko ŌbayashiCinematography:
Yûdai KatôCast:
Jun Fubuki, Ayumi Itō, Aoi Miyazaki, Akira Emoto, Renji Ishibashi, Ittoku Kishibe, Masami Hisamoto, Mai Hoshō, Rinko Kikuchi, Ryō Kase, Masaru Miyazaki (more)Plots(1)
A storm rages over Tokyo. Meanwhile, inside a high-rise apartment block, the bodies of four people are discovered – apparently the victims of a brutal crime. At first, the victims are all thought to be members of one family, but then it transpires that they were not related to each other at all. Investigations run aground. Who were the victims? Who was responsible for – it has to be said – having slaughtered them in such a way? And why on earth were the murders committed? What could possibly have been the motive? Innocuous citizens who do not normally have anything to do with such horrific crimes are dragged onto the case. And the more testimonies that are collated, the closer the case moves towards a surprising conclusion. The book on which this film is based is thought to be Japanese novelist Miyuki Miyabe's best work. Miyabe is as popular a writer in Japan as Stephen King is in the west. "Riyuu" has been constructed as a docudrama: the facts come to light during the protagonists' interrogations. Nobuhiko Obayashi uses these hearings as the basis of his film, which does not have a main character; instead, more than one hundred people provide the narrative drive for this suspenseful murder mystery. (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Jun Fubuki
Japan
Best movies:
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Awaking (2006)
Tokyo Family (2013)
Ayumi Itō
Japan
Best movies:
Swallowtail & Butterfly (1996)
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
Solanin (2010)
Aoi Miyazaki
Japan
Best movies:
Wolf Children (2012)
Eureka (2000)
Nana (2005)
Akira Emoto
Japan
Best movies:
Natsu no niwa - The Friends (1994)
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)
Lakeside Murder Case (2004)
Renji Ishibashi
Japan
Best movies:
Farewell to the Ark (1984)
Half a Confession (2004)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Land of Demons (1973)
Ittoku Kishibe
Japan
Best movies:
Vengeance for Sale (2001)
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)
Tokyo Bordello (1987)
Masami Hisamoto
Japan
Best movies:
Mai Hoshō
Japan
Best movies:
The Yin Yang Master (2001)
Suicide Circle (2001)
Rinko Kikuchi
Japan
Best movies:
By Player (2000)
Babel (2006)
Survive Style 5+ (2004)
Ryō Kase
Japan
Best movies:
Nobody Knows (2004)
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Masaru Miyazaki
Japan
Best movies:
Eureka (2000)
Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World (2004)
First Love (2006)
Satomi Kobayashi
Japan
Best movies:
Glasses (2007)
Kamome Diner (2006)
After the Storm (2016)
Miyuki Matsuda
Japan
Best movies:
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2007)
Chihayafuru: Upper Phrase (2016)
Still the Water (2014)
Yuko Kotegawa
Japan
Best movies:
Switching - Goodbye Me (2007)
A Heartful of Love (2005)
The Makioka Sisters (1983)
大和田伸也
Japan
Best movies:
I Just Didn't Do It (2006)
Black Belt (2007)
Evergreen Love (2016)
Hiroyuki Watanabe
Japan
Best movies:
Tsurutaro Kataoka
Japan
Best movies:
Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi (1989)
Alley Cat (2000)
Initiation Love (2015)
Haruo Yanagihara
Japan
Best movies:
The Lightning Tree (2010)
The Glorious Team Batista (2008)
Happy Flight (2008)
Eriko Watanabe
Japan
Best movies:
Memories of Tomorrow (2006)
Swing Girls (2004)
Dr. Akagi (1998)
赤座美代子
Japan
Best movies:
Libido (1967)
Violent Streets (1974)
Lady Snowblood (1973)