I know that the almost legendary Asian film distro Third Window Films has released many of Shinya Tsukamoto’s films to Blu-ray format previously. However, in the last 3 months with the insanely near comprehensive box set by Arrow Video Tsukamoto box set, and now the outstanding Gemini release by the iconic Mondo Macabro it truly feels like the year of Tsukamoto and the period where the director has been shown the respect he deserves in the west, especially here in the United States. While the box set from Arrow felt like a solid release, one notable exception was Gemini, and I am happy that Mondo Macabro were able to swoop in and fill in that hole.
The film stars Masahiro Motoki as Yukio a highly decorated Doctor who seems to have the gold standard life. He is married to Rin, a former amnesiac who he saved one day on the banks of a nearby river. He lives in a mansion with his family including his Mother and Father. One night his Mother awakens to a dirty, distressed looking man that looks like a near spitting iage of Yukio. This gives her a heart attack and kills her. Following that his house is surrounded by the poor denizens of the community who are affected by a plague, and who he refused to treat in lieu of helping the wealthier townsfolk like the mayor. Soon after he begins to discover more about his wife, and the doppleganger that caused his Mom’s heart attack, and things begin to come into focus, as his life falls apart.
I haven’t seen all of Tsukamot’s output, but Gemini seems a lot more straight forward in many ways. It is still quite a bizarre film from the director, but I would call it more approachable especially compared to his earlier more cyberpunk films, but even when compared to his other mid-period entries like Snake of June. The use of color in the film is excellent and reminded me of another Japanese horror film Evil Dead Trap, or I could just cut to the chase, and say Tsukamoto was probably channeling Argento a bit here.
Mondo Macabro, of course, does startling work on bringing the film to home video life. The image is mostly clean with some minor speckling with organic film grain present throughout. The Japanese DTS-HD 2.0 track comes through crisp, clear, and without issue. Extras include a making of directed by fellow Japanese cinema icon Takashi Miike, a Venice Film Festival featurette, a make up demo, and a 7 part behind the scenes feature. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Director – Shinya Tsukamoto
Cast – Mashhiro Motoki, Shiho Fujimura
Country of Origin – Japan
Reviewer – Scott MacDonald