"Cold Fish" Review - Written by Anthony T

Cold Fish
Year: 2011
Director: Shion Sono
Stars: Makoto Ashikawa, Denden, Mitsuru Fukikoshi
Studio: Bloody Disgusting Selects
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 144 Mins

“Cold Fish is the latest film from Japanese director Shion Sono, who is responsible for the cult films, “Suicide Club” and “Exte: Hair Extensions”. The film recently played at this Fantasia International Film Festival, where the film shared the Audience Award for Best Asian Film with Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins.

The film follows Shamoto (Makoto Ashikawa), a shop keeper, who’s teenage daughter gets caught shoplifting, When he and his wife go there to pick her up, they meet a mysterious shop owner (Denden). He along with his wife help resolved the situation. The owner then offers to help him straighten out his daughter, by having her work at his shop. Shamoto agrees with him, but all this seems too good to be true. He starts finding out that the owner and his wife are committing unspeakable acts and soon he gets caught up in them. Can Shamato find a way to stop the madness, before it overtakes his sanity and puts the ones that he loves in danger.

If your looking for the most bizarre film of the year, then “Cold Fish” would be in the running for that title. It’s one of those films that you can’t take your eye off, as it‘s very surreal.

Shion Sono’s direction was just great. One of the reasons that I liked his direction, the freedom that he gives his cinematographer to shoot the film at a frantic pace. This could’ve easily been your typical by the books thriller, but the cinematographer’s work makes this feel edgy and original. It grabs your attention to the material and helps makes some of the scenes more shocking. This film also has a lot of blood and gore, for a thriller. Sono uses this effectively to his advantage, by creating surreal imagery that makes the shock value work. He uses it to add a disturbing element to the story and not to make it bloody for no purpose. That’s when gore effects are very effective and shocking. The acting here is also very good. Sono carefully directs his cast, because the acting was great. This film has two very good performances from Makoto Ashikawa and Denden. Ashikawa does a very good job adapting to various changes that his character goes through during the course of the film. You see him as an ordinary character in the beginning of the story. But during the course of the film, he able to take the material and make the character darker. That’s what makes those scenes effective and that is what makes the main character interesting. Not to be out done, Denden turns in one of the best performances of the year as Murata, the mysterious shop keeper. He makes the character very odd, eccentric, and frightening all at the same time. The character gives this film its off balance feel, as he played it to perfection. It’s that performances that keeps you interested with this film, especially when the main character begins to lose his sanity to Murata’s horrific actions.

The screenplay which was written by Sono and Yoshiki Takahashi is very good. One of things that makes this screenplay good, the way that the writers focus on the ordeal that the main character goes through. The character starts off as an ordinary person. But when bearing witness to Murata’ murderous rampage, you see the character go through various changes in attitude and his view of life. That’s what keeps your interest with the main character. The writers also did a very good job putting some originality into some of film’s scenes. From the dismemberment of Murata’s victims and the sexual tension that takes place, they generate some sort of reaction. You need that, if your intention is to shock people. This film does achieve that very well. The death scenes were also creative and handled very well. The writers really put some thought into those scenes, as it effectively adds to the shocking elements and tone of the story.

Every though this is my first experience watching a Shion Sono film, it‘s one of those films that makes me want to go back and check out his other films previously to this. ‘“Cold Fish” is an original thriller that has a surreal tone to the violence and shock level, while providing an interesting character study at the same time.

Review Rating: Five Stars