Unagi (1997) The Eel | Region-Free (Blu-Ray) | English Subtitles | Directed by Shôhei Imamura

**DISC ONLY**

Source: WEB 1080p w/ Subtitles.

Quality: 10/10.

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Title: The Eel (1997)

Genre: Crime, Drama

Plot Synopsis: After discovering his wife’s infidelity, Takuro Yamashita fatally stabs her in a fit of rage. Following an eight-year prison sentence, he relocates to a rural village, opening a barbershop and forming a unique bond with an eel he kept during his incarceration. His reclusive life takes a turn when he saves Keiko, a woman with her own troubled past, leading to a complex relationship as they both seek redemption and connection.

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Cast and Crew:

• Director: Shōhei Imamura
• Writers: Shōhei Imamura, Daisuke Tengan, Motofumi Tomikawa
• Cast:
  • Kōji Yakusho as Takuro Yamashita
  • Misa Shimizu as Keiko Hattori
  • Mitsuko Baisho as Misako Nakajima
  • Akira Emoto as Tamotsu Takasaki
  • Fujio Tokita as Jiro Nakajima

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YouTube Trailer: The Eel | Trailer 

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IMDb Link: The Eel (1997) 

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Reviews from Letterboxd:

1. Mike D’Angelo – ★★ “Second viewing, last seen 20 years ago. No Taste of Cherry-style reassessment, alas, though I watched the longer ‘director’s cut’; if anything, I like it even less now, having seen most of Imamura’s earlier films in the interim. (This was the first one I ever saw.) At the time, I complained that ‘every scene feels like it belongs to a different movie—veering […] from stark horror to contemplative drama to slapstick comedy to tender romance to whatever the hell’s going on in the borderline-hysterical final reel.’ Admittedly, one could say the same of some Korean films that I quite like (e.g. The Host), but in those cases it feels as if the film is continually, creatively expanding its range, whereas The Eel just seems to be flailing about in search of a coherent tone.”

2. teamgal – ★★★ “If anything, The Eel immediately grabs your attention and Shōhei Imamura’s calling cards are all over the film’s opening scenes: mysterious letters, illicit sex, a brutal knife murder, and an unlikely friendship with an animal. In fact, the first 15 minutes masterfully set up a film that oddly never materializes. Instead, it segues into a rom-com peopled with idiosyncratic characters and dotted with bursts of magical realism. The movie’s reluctance to settle on a particular tone is admirable and Imamura, largely assisted by the excellence of his two leads, does manage to pull most of this off. But I’ll be damned if I know why he made it.”

3. joshmatthews – ★★★★ “The Palme d’Or winner of 1997, The Eel depicts two people in deep pain from hard trauma and allows us to live vicariously with them. I suppose tens of thousands of movies have tried to do that. The Eel believes ardently in the relentless toughness of life, yet with a lingering hope of restoration. The movie begins with a character we will follow and who we think we know, yet he always remains a mystery. An office worker, he’s a fisherman who finds his wife cheating on him one night. Astonishingly, he kills her. More astonishingly, he calmly rides his bike to the nearest police station and, blood-soaked, turns himself in. After seven years in prison, he’s released on parole, and with the help of a priest, he goes to a rural river locale where he refurbishes an old barbershop.”

4. Mark Costello – ★★★½ “Shōhei Imamura’s Palme D’Or winner is a deceptively engaging slice of humanist melodrama, stuffed full of warmth yet with just enough humorous bite to give it a strange little edge. Cure’s Kōji Yakusho is jailed for the brutal murder of his wife, whom he discovers having an affair while he engages in regular all-night fishing trips. After eight years inside, he’s released into the custody of a Buddhist priest and sets up a barbershop in a small town, accompanied by his pet eel. He saves a young woman from suicide and she becomes his assistant, but his past threatens to catch up with him.”

5. Philbert Dy – ★★ “Struggled with this. Early in the movie, it just felt odd how whimsical everything felt for a story that pretty much kicks off with the brutal murder of a woman. It kind of felt like Imamura trying to do his take on a Juzo Itami film, with its quirky set of characters, and blending of darker elements with an offbeat sense of humor. It is probably not much of a stretch to say that Imamura is a very different kind of director.”

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Meta Description: The Eel (1997) is a Japanese crime drama directed by Shōhei Imamura. The film follows Takuro Yamashita, portrayed by Kōji Yakusho, who, after serving an eight-year prison sentence for murdering his unfaithful wife, seeks a new life in a rural village. Opening a barbershop, his sole companion is an eel he befriended in prison. The narrative explores themes of redemption and human connection, especially after he saves Keiko, played by Misa Shimizu, from a suicide attempt, intertwining their troubled pasts. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.