The Eel (1997) - Shohei Imamura

On his way home from work, Yamashita, a successful businessman, receives a mysterious phone call about his wife's infidelity.  Yamashita doesn't know what to think, but he does decide to return home earlier than usual that night to investigate.  On arrival, he discovers his wife in bed with another man and in an act of rage he murders her in cold blood.  After eight years in prison, Yamashita is released and put on probation, returning home to his small village town where he opens up a barbershop.  One day he stumbles accross an unconscious woman in Keiko, who bares a striking resemblance to his wife.  Unconscious due to a botched suicide attempt, Yamashita alerts the authorities, who are able to save Keiko's life.  Soon enough, Keiko begins working in Yamashita's barber shop, even beginning to fall in love with Yamashita, who tries as hard as he can to keep her at a distance.  Shohei Imamura's The Eel is a difficult film to categorize, a tonially-shifting exploration of self-forgiveness and self-acceptance that is deeply lyrical, imaginative, funny and emotionally resonant.  While their have been many films dealing witha  recently paroled men looking for a second chance, Shohei Imamura's The Eel is endlessly more fascinating than most due to it being largly an internal film that focuses on Yamashita's inner-self more than societies acceptance.  Imamura's expressionistic style on aids this film, with a host of artistic decisions that speak volumes about what the characters are feeling.  My particular favorite decision Shohei Imamura made centers around the scene where out of desperation, Yamashita tells Keiko that he was in jail for murdering his wife.  Yamashita is  shameful but also attempting to force her away.  As Yamashita reveals that he lied about simply being divorced, Imamura lights the scene with  this bright spotlight that illuminates the frame, signifying a powerful moment that hits Keiko emotionally like a ton of bricks, letting it soak in.  The Eel is about a man attempting to move forward and begin anew, fearful of falling in love with another woman and not trusting himself as a decent human being.  In summary, Shohei Imamura's The Eel explores a man's internal struggle to forgive himself but it's also full of silly and funny moments, with Imamura  making fun of his characters as he exposes who they are as human beings.

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