CURE

CURE
Japan 1997
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

When the brutally murdered body of a prostitute is found, Police detective Takabe arrives on the scene and notices a strange similarity to other recent murders.

Although a different murderer has been arrested in each case, each of the victims has been slashed with a large ‘X’ across their body. The prostitute’s killer is found hiding near the scene of the crime.

Although he admits to killing her, he cannot tell police why he did it. Detective Takabe asks his psychologist friend, Sakuma, to help him with the investigation. Sakuma finds no relationship between the various murders.

Then, another murder takes place, a drifter is arrested and found to be a former medical student majoring in psychiatry. The story then takes an unexpected turn as we learn what had happened to the student in medical school.

Screenplay:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Cinematography:
Tokusho Kikumura

Editing:
Kan Suzuki

Music:
Gary Ashiya

Principal cast:
Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Masato Hagiwara

Production: Daiei Co. / 35mm / colour / 111 mins.

Director's bio-note: Kiyoshi Kurosawa was born in Kobe in 1955. He graduated with sociology from Rikkyo University, where he studied film with the influential theorist Shigehiiko Hasumi.

He began making 8mm films when he was in high school, and his first short film Shigarami  was selected for the 1981 Pia Film Festival. In 1983, he made his debut as a commercial director with Kandagawa Wars, and went on to win an enthusiastic following with Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl (1985) and The Guard from Underground (1992).

In 1992 he was awarded the Sundance Institute Scholarship for his original film script, Charisma.