The Neighbor No. 13

In 1994, Santa ‘Santastic’ Inoue first published his raw psycho-suspense comic Neighborhood 13, a manga that acquired a huge fan base over the years. Filming it was always a topic of conversation, but Inoue, a versatile artist and a key figure in ‘Japanese Coolness’, would not grant permission. In the end, he put his trust in the fledgling music video director Inoue Yasuo (no relation). The result is the excellent The Neighbor No. 13. The leading role took two actors: Juzo is played by Oguri Shun, and his incarnation ‘No. 13’ by the Japanese kabuki star Nakamura Shido. Like so much misery in life, it all starts with bullying at school. Juzo is pushed around by his classmate Akai, and one day everything gets horribly out of hand. Ten years later, Juzo has an apartment in the same block where Akai lives with his wife and son, and he finds work at the construction site where Akai is in charge. There too, he is the lowest in the pecking order and again the victim of bullying. Akai has long forgotten his victim of 10 years before, but then Juzo’s alter ego appears on the scene, No. 13: an explosive bruiser who wants violent revenge. The plot has several surprises in store, but the film is above all a superior style exercise expressing the pleasure of making films. With a guest role for Miike Takashi as an angry neighbour, and hence the first victim. (GT)