Kyoshi Kurosawa’s Kyua, aka Cure, is indicative of the directors approach to film making. Rather then bending the rules, he seems to break them beyond recognition. I managed to get my hands on some of his earlier works, including Kyua amongst others, and found it an intriguing and riveting experience where we delve into the mind of the average person.

For all the supernatural commentary about the film, and it’s rather unjustified comparisons to both Seven and Silence of the Lambs, Kyua comes across as a very different take on the psychological killer genre. Whereas the other two films knocked me out to hibernate through several Summer and Winter seasons, Kyua was a different experience, keeping my curious about what was to come and where the whole story was leading to.

The main characters are a hyper-tensive Detective Takabe, who’s dealing with a case of new murders that are cropping up, as well as dealing with his wife, who seems to be suffering from amnesia or some mental illness. In this, there is no real villain, but if were to place that label upon someone, you might say it’s a lonely traveller who appears some way short of 10 minutes into the film who has no name at first, but is later discovered to be called Miyami. The contrast between the two persona could not be anymore different. The enraged and often high-tempered Takabe; and the calm, innocent seeming killer.

It’s not giving anything away to say that the killings occur through hypnosis, and the chief suspect is Miyami. The killings are, however, committed by colleagues or loved ones, rather than Miyami himself; he’s only the instigator as Takabe accuses him of. The deaths and the suspects are quite interesting in themselves, leaving the letter “X” mutilated into their skins using a sharp object. The suspects feel an overwhelming grief and seem unable to understand why they felt the need to kill.

Kyua works on many, many levels. Even after watching the film, you feel a sense of questions that need answering as you look back at all the clues that they’ve littered throughout the film. It’s a a darkly, beautiful story told with atmosphere and intelligence. in some ways you could argue that the film is subliminal, as it lingers in your mind much later. In retrospect, I found the final part of the film more chilling and horrific than when I first saw it. It’s a very rewarding film, and provides a lot of ambiguity, but also answers if you look deep enough.

For much of the first half of the film not a lot happens. You’ll witness a lot of trendy camera work, but nothing in the way of anything particularly interesting. What Seven and Silence of the Lambs did was provide a sort of conclusion; even with their gritty endings. Everything was tied up, questions were answered and it left a sort of predictable feeling in your mouth. The characters often felt like characters without conviction, as you never quite feel anything for any of them. They’re detached and on the screen.

With Kyua things are a little different. These are everyday people, that could be your or I and there’s simply nothing whatsoever that defines them as special. Forget the nonsense about the supernatural with this film, there’s little of that; it’s all the power of suggestion. What’s chilling is that it’s brought out by a rather ordinary everyday person, and that the next victim or even propagator of the killings could be anyone in the film. No one is free from the possibility, which makes the film incredibly deep, because later scenes make you think back to things that were said or done which resulted in a later scene.

I would say that at times the film seems overly long, and some scenes do tend to drag on for quite sometimes. Direction is really quite excellent, however, and the methodical pace is something you soon become quite comfortable with. There are some obvious clues about what is happening, and why its happening; who’s who and who’s controlling who. Certain scenes do echo “predictable” but they’re shot with a degree of different and style that justifies their existence – a retelling of a scene from a different perspective.

The beach scene was creepy and wonderful to watch; with it’s echoing and haunting soundtrack subtle in its delivery, we see a man walking up the screen. Immediately I felt a certain chill and unease at what I was watching; the walk towards the screen is unnervingly long and purposely so, but shot with such tension and sensibility that you’re reminded of Sadako tearing out of the screen in Ringu, as you don’t know if this man is actually walking up a beach, or if he intends to lurch out of your monitor and give you message your don’t particularly want to hear.

The supernatural element could perhaps be accounted for in this regards; it’s shot with a certain dread and ambiguous fear where you don’t quite realise what to expect from the next scene; Will it be ghosts? Will this person kill someone? Will he invoke some evil? I’m not sure which is the more nerve-wrecking: the waiting or the vague knowledge what has probably happened, but not knowing how it happened; possibly not wanting to know? It’s the control and direction of Kurosawa’s skill that allows this fear to build. With any other director, even Fincher, everything would be lost and everything would be far too obvious.

Character development is perhaps lacking, and the acting is very infrequently over the top, but overall the performances are solid throughout. Whether it be Detective Takabe or the rogue wanderer, Miyami. to the suspects. Nothing is ever given away in an real depth, and nothing prepares you for the finale until the latter half of the film, and even then, you don’t quite know when the changes take place. It’s a film that requires repeat viewing, to figure out the many twists and turns Kyua takes while tying a rope around your neck for a demented journey through the recesses of madness.

Much of the film uses symbolism and metaphor as vehicle with which to propel its ideas. It’s intrinsically Japan in its presentation, message and its environment. Suppression of emotions is often a stereotype of Japanese culture, but it is also an actual fact. Emotions seems often limited, and with the pressures of work, this is lessened even more to blank poker faces. Emotion becomes a luxury and is no longer a given. The every day monotony of life, the acceptance that they’re not actually satisfied, and in fact feel empty, lonely and devoid of any real fulfilment in their lives is distinguishing of the world of Japanese culture. It also serves as the basis for much of Kurosawa’s later work, which can be seen in films such as Kairo.

Kyua is as mesmerising as it is inventive. You must ignore the comments that refer to this as Japanese Silence of the Lambs or Seven film, or even a film which is devoid of any real breadth and ideas. Far from being another clone, or a generic piece of monotonous thriller trash, Kyua manages to give the genre another four or five twists you wouldn’t expect in such a genre. The latter half of the film is the culmination of the build up of the first half. Perseverance and commitment will reward you with engrossing and a deeply philosophical tale.

The ending will either be something you like, or you will hate. For myself, I truly loved it. It was subtle, and abrupt, but leaves the question in your mind as to how far things will go – but not just in the fictional world of the film, but as a rule of thumb to just how easily it could be anyone that you know, or even yourself that succumbs to your darkest realities, simply because of an action or a word that is spoken. suggestion is a very powerful tool, as displayed by many cults, and you could argue Kyua echoes these very sentiments. Several references are made to books, including a book representing evil. The character’s belief in the books is what convinces him to carry out the deed that he does; for he is the cure to the salvation of the people from their ties with existence and need. It’s deeply cold and cut-throat, but makes for tremendous film making.

I really wish I could recommend this film to everyone, but obviously I can’t. My guess would be that if I was to tell 20 random people to watch this, perhaps 4 might enjoy it. I’m just estimating, but at times even I found it a strange film to follow, but it’s made me appreciate Kurosawa’s work more than ever before, and provides a new spin on his later films. The film is very slow to reach its conclusion, and may leave the bitter after taste of “cop out” to most viewers; but this film was made to make you feel better, but to question and think.

You’re not supposed to feel all good about yourself, or feel safe that this could never actually happening. This isn’t a Hollywood comfort zone film, and if that disturbs you then you need to move on find your next fix with generic Hollywood film #98731138. Everyone else who’s looking for some very different, and quite inspiring in some respects, wouldn’t do harm in checking out this cleverly constructed film of glimmering intelligence challenging the very question of what it means to have an identity.

Verdict: A masterful and memorable early piece from a director who we have yet to see the best of, and only goes from strength to strength. Not just another brain dead, crime thriller