This
will be an awkward case for hotshot attorney Tomoaki Shigemori. It will remind
him guilt and culpability are not necessarily the same thing. The case against
Takashi Misumi also illustrates the systemic advantages enjoyed by Japanese
prosecutors. Yet, most vividly, the pitched court battle demonstrates how
elusive the truth can be, as a tangible, knowable thing. Shigemori will try his
best to uncover the truth while obeying his clients instructions—ironically, two
objectives that never really concerned him much before—in Hirokazu Koreeda’s The Third Murder (trailer here), which screens
during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.
Misumi
confessed and his lawyers never laid the groundwork to question his
culpability. By the time Shigemori is called in, the best he can hope to do is
challenge the charge of felony homicide, by separating the alleged murder and
robbery of Misumi’s former factory boss into two discrete acts. The way Misumi
keeps changing his story makes his task even more difficult. Nevertheless, as
Shigemori digs in, he starts to question many of his assumptions.
Frankly,
a fact-finding trip to Misumi’s frosty Hokkaido hometown only raises more
questions and uncertainty, starting with his previous two murder convictions. During
his previous trial, Misumi never denied killing two loan sharks who were preying
on the town’s dispossessed blue-collar workers. Shigemori starts to see a
pattern emerging when the sins of his latest “victim” become apparent, but his
client refuses to give him the confirmation he so earnestly desires.
In
the hands of a lesser filmmaker, Third
Murder could have been a ridiculously overwrought and symbolically
overblown film, but Koreeda exercises rigorous restraint. He only hints
obliquely at possible religious and spiritual interpretations, which makes them
exponentially more tantalizing. Every step of the way, he focuses on the
mundane and absurd bureaucratic rituals of the Japanese legal system, which
keeps the film firmly grounded in reality. Yet, there is always a sense of some
greater truth just beyond our reach.
Third Murder also proves Koji
Yakusho is one of the absolute best in the business. He makes Misumi acutely
human but also profoundly inscrutable. He might be a cypher, but he still
expresses remorse and compassion, in ways that will hit viewers hard. Suzu
Hirose is even more poignant and affecting as Sakie Yamanaka, the dead man’s
daughter, who clearly feels a greater emotional connection to Misumi. Masaharu
Fukuyama is also terrific subtly portraying Shigemori and the slow re-awakening
of his integrity and idealism. He and Yakusho are riveting whenever they
face-off together, even though they both usually tack an understated,
slow-burning course.
This
is the kind of film that will reward periodic revisiting over the course of
decades. It chronicles injustice, but it is a deeply, deeply moral film.
Thematically, it is a dramatic departure for Koreeda, but it still examines
relationships between parents and children through an undeniably humanistic
lens. Yet, if you strip away the Christian imagery and potential allegorical
readings, you will still have a compelling legal procedural. Very highly
recommended, The Third Murder screens
Saturday afternoon (6/30) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.
