Inju, la bête dans l'ombre (2008)

Note des utilisateurs:

6.0/10   

Réalisateur:

Barbet Schroeder

Writers:

Rampo Edogawa (novel)
Jean-Armand Bougrelle (scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue) ...
(suite)

Release Date:

3 septembre 2008 (France)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

The writer and college professor, Alexandre Fayard, researches and gives lectures about the gruesome...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Geisha | Nightmare | Dream Sequence | Murder

Awards:

1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

It's all been done before, but what the hell, it's done professionally

Ensemble

Benoît Magimel	...	Alex Fayard
Lika Minamoto	...	Tamao
Shun Sugata	...	Inspecteur Fuji
Maurice Bénichou	...	L'agent d'Alex Fayard
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Takumi Bando	...	Japanese Pimp
Toshi Fujiwara	...	Toyama - the interpreter
Tomonobu Fukui
Ryo Ishibashi	...	Ryuji Mogi
Sean Muramatsu	...	Bodyguard
Erika Niibo
Gen Shimaoka

Réalisé par
Barbet Schroeder

Scénaristes
Rampo Edogawa		(novel "Injû")
Jean-Armand Bougrelle		(scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue) &
Frédérique Henri		(scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue) &
Barbet Schroeder		(scenario) (adaptation) (dialogue)
Eitan Arrusi		(collaboration)

Produit par
Saïd Ben Saïd	....	lead producer
Vérane Frédiani	....	producer
Franck Ribière	....	producer

Musique originale
Jorge Arriagada

Image
Luciano Tovoli

Montage
Luc Barnier

Création des décors
Fumio Ogawa

Directeur de production
Bruno Bernard	....	production manager
Abraham Goldblat	....	post-production manager

Assistant réalisateur
Olivier Jacquet	....	first assistant director

Technicien du son
Boris Chapelle	....	assistant sound editor
Nicolas d'Halluin	....	sound recordist
Ivan Dumas	....	boom operator
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound
Cyrille Richard	....	assistant sound editor
Christophe Vingtrinier	....	sound re-recording mixer
Francis Wargnier	....	sound editor

Visual Effects
Cyrille Bonjean	....	compositing supervisor: Paris
Judith Bruneau	....	visual effects coordinator
Natalène Darfeuille	....	visual effects production assistant
Christophe Duflaut	....	digital compositor
Thomas Duval	....	visual effects supervisor
David Gourmaud	....	visual effects editor
Aurélien Grand	....	retouch and restoration
Thibaut Granier	....	digital compositor
Nicolas Kermel	....	digital artist
Pacini Kevin	....	visual effects editor
Nicolas Lacroix	....	visual effects coordinator
Aurelie Lajoux	....	visual effects coordinator
Elodie Ly Tri	....	retouch and restoration
Jean-Christophe Olivier	....	senior compositor
Benjamin Pelletreau	....	digital compositor
Cecile Peltier	....	digital compositor
Julien Record	....	digital compositor
Nicolas Rigaud	....	digital compositor
Niranjan Siva	....	roto artist
Christian Tomikowski	....	digital compositor
Annabelle Troukens	....	visual effects producer

Camera and Electrical Department
Chassaing Arthur	....	assistant camera
Maxime Cointe	....	assistant camera
Gaspard Cresp	....	film loader
David Foquin	....	second assistant camera
Denis Garnier	....	assistant camera
Ryoma Kohari	....	second assistant camera: Japan Unit
Malek Krimed	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Marion Monnier	....	assistant editor
Nelly Ollivault	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Cross Media
• La Fabrique de Films
• SBS Films

Distributors

• Imagem Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Seven Films (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• UGC Distribution (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• UGC International (2008) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)

Technicien des effets spéciaux

• Duran Duboi

Other Companies

• Duran Duboi  digital intermediate
• Kanazawa Film Commission  film commission
• Les Audis de Vanves  sound post-production (ADR)
• OS Productions  thanks
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Autre(s) titre(s):

Inju (International: English title) (working title)
Inju, the Beast in the Shadow (Canada: English title) (festival title)
Inju: The Beast in the Shadow (International: English title)

Durée:

Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Pays:

France

Langue:

Français | Japonais | Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Classification:

France:U

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Kanazawa, Japan

Company:

Cross Media

It's all been done before, but what the hell, it's done professionally

Aside from Reversal of Fortune and Single White Female, Barbet Schroeder is probably best known for the two documentaries he made about two controversial figures like Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and French lawyer Jacques Vergès, aka Terror's Advocate. His latest fiction work, Inju, continues in that direction by dealing with another mysterious, possibly evil man.

The man in question is Shundei Oe, a reclusive Japanese writer who has never let anyone see his face, and unlike, say, Terrence Malick, he doesn't even allow his picture to circulate: the only clue readers have as to what he looks like is a disturbing self-portrait (think David Carradine in Kill Bill with a skin disease) he puts on the back cover of his novels, morbid thrillers where evil always prevails. Oe is the subject of the studies of Alex Fayard (Benoit Magimel), a French college lecturer who believes the atrocities in those books reflect the author's own deranged fantasies. When Fayard goes to Kyoto to promote a book of his own, an Oe-style tale minus the sombre ending, he starts having unsettling dreams and receives a menacing phone call during an interview. On top of that, he meets a geisha named Tamao (Minamoto Lika), who claims to be stalked by her former lover: Shundei Oe.

That's the premise: the rest of the film is a succession of murders, mysteries and twists, all delivered following the blueprint set by The Usual Suspects and exploited to the point of self-parody by the Saw franchise. These parallels aren't just predictable, they're downright unavoidable, since Schroeder's blatant intent is to make Shundei Oe a cinematic icon in the same league as Keyser Soze and Jigsaw (the latter is more of a genre icon, but that's beside the point). That this doesn't happen is due to the director mimicking the behavior of the film's protagonist: just like Alex imitates Oe without adding anything personal, Schroeder sets out to be a new Bryan Singer while being handed a ridiculously thin script and a twist ending that some people (most, actually) will find more obvious than the final revelation of The Village.

And yet, despite that, Inju isn't god-awful or even boring. How come? Because Schroeder most likely knew the plot wasn't that strong and put all his energy into the creation of a memorable, perverse atmosphere, and he succeeds: the gloomy mood is adequately complemented by sly visual nods to Cronenberg and Takashi Miike, most notably the weird sexuality that is present in either's body of work. There is nothing too explicit, but what is there is suggestive enough to wonder: what if Schroeder had directed Basic Instinct 2? As for the acting, there is nothing special to write home about, but Magimel deserves some back-slapping for being a better actor here than he was in the abysmal Crimson Rivers 2 (still nowhere near the heights he reached in The Piano Teacher, though).

And then there's the movie's major selling point, one of the best opening sequences in the genre's history: a Tarantino-inspired film-within-the-film that sums up Inju's unconventional charm in ten minutes. The overall picture isn't a masterpiece, that's for sure, but that beginning is worth the ticket price regardless.