Cold Fish Review

• 11th Apr 2011

Love Exposure director Shion Sono returns with this similarly proportioned serial killer film. The story: a meek tropical fish breeder, Nobuyuki Syamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), his wife and daughter from a previous marriage meet a much more successful fish breeder, Yukio Murata, (Denden) who, after showing off his impressive collection, cheerfully promises to give Syamoto’s tearaway daughter a job at his shop. It’s evident from the outset that Murata, with his creepy overfriendliness and eagerness to get involved with the family, is not what he seems and it’s not long before suspicions are confirmed as he ropes Syamoto into posing as his partner on a business deal before poisoning the prospective buyer in front of him and forcing him to witness as he and his servile wife take the body to their mountainside shack and joyfully dismember and dispose of the corpse. As Murata explains, he wants to make Syamoto his apprentice and the remainder of the film shows the protagonist’s descent into depravity as he’s forced inexorably into the killer’s world.

Despite the interesting premise, Cold Fish suffers major pacing problems. The first hour or so passes swiftly, as Sono’s story plays out like a well-made thriller, gradually revealing the extent of Murata’s depravity; it’s all quite promising. However, the much more violent remainder of the film is quite difficult to bear because Sono doesn’t like to economise with his violence: why upset the viewer with one horribly drawn-out body disposal scene, his logic appears to run, when you can upset them with three? Yes, they serve the purpose of showing the influence of Murata on Syamoto as the latter gradually descends into depravity, but the length of time given to them produces a curious mix of revulsion and boredom. It’s not helped by Sono’s nihilistic worldview: none of the main characters are given enough depth to make us invest in them emotionally; they’re mere vessels for all manner of perversions, which Sono admittedly wrings some pitch-black humour out of, but it’s not enough to make Cold Fish enjoyable – and not enough for the film to be regarded as a straight-up black comedy.

Fans of endurance cinema might regard this film as something of an achievement and it does rank among the most difficult to watch films this reviewer has sat through. Unfortunately it’s not always difficult to watch for the right reasons, and, as it builds to its inevitably horrific denouement, the trauma-fatigued viewer is unlikely to feel anything other than relief and a numb backside.

Adam Richardson