After the experimental but ultimately disappointing Loft (review), Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with Retribution, a crime thriller with ghostly elements akin to Cure and Kairo. While I won’t tout this as Kurosawa’s return to form, it is a culmination of many of his films previous styles, and once again has a lot to say about the current cultural climate of Japan.

A young woman is found drowned in a small puddle of saltwater in an area of town that is currently under construction, as well as experiencing random small earthquakes. Detective Yoshioka heads up the investigation, and as he begins to uncover clues, he’s startled to find that many of the evidence points to him as being the main suspect, from one of his fingerprints on the body to a button from a coat found on the scene that he’s missing from his own coat. Trouble is, he remembers nothing at all and knows he couldn’t have done it. Once a ghost dressed in red begins haunting him though, he begins believing he very well could have been involved. When murders with the same MO begin to turn up however, Yoshioka begins to see there’s much more to this than meets the eye.

Kurosawa is definitely back into playing with his apocalyptic and barren themes seen in Cure and Kairo here, but Retribution is far more cryptic and complex than either of those films. This actually reminded me of an arthouse horror version of Isao Takahata’s Pom Poko. I know that sounds like a stretch, but I caught the vibe that Kurosawa was trying to say the same thing here; how the big metropolis is encroaching on all of the natural elements of Japan, and how everything old has been completely forgotten. The earthquakes mentioned above are what is stirring up some of this saltwater that people are drowning in, and it’s almost as if it’s coming back to claim its own. Some believe that all life originated from the sea, and it seems like in Retribution, it may be coming to take that life back.

Unfortunately, the film may be too metaphorical for its own good. In the horror frame that the film is set upon, there aren’t enough satisfying genre elements to satisfy viewers not willing to look deeper into the narrative. While Cure and Kairo were certainly deep for those that looked for it, they were also very entertaining and effective on a surface level. Kurosawa also employs some bizarre surrealism here, including some driving scenes late in the film where the super-imposed backgrounds look laughably unrealistic. I have to think this was intentional, as someone with such a grip on his vision as Kurosawa undoubtedly wouldn’t allow something like this in the film if he didn’t want it. It’s apparent that Kurosawa is now making films on his own terms, and without that small semblance of making the film appealing to the mainstream on any level, the film overindulges in its complexity. I never thought I would say this, but I believe Kurosawa would benefit with just a bit of restraint put on him. I certainly enjoyed this film, being the Kurosawa mark that I am, but I felt as if he may have had a bit too much freedom on Retribution, and he leaves his viewers feeling a little cold because of it.

There’s no denying that technically, Kurosawa is just as on point as he ever was. No one can create a feeling of desolation better than he can, with dilapidated buildings under stark and gloomy skies. His take on filming ghostly beings by shoving them right in your face and looming on them for long periods of time is something I can appreciate given the quick glimpses you get in every other film in the genre. Sure, it may take the terror out of the situation, but then at the end of the day, these ghosts aren’t the usual malevolent spirits we’re so accustomed to in J-horror. These ghosts are as important to the narrative as anyone else. Kurosawa also brings back his acting ace Kôji Yakusho in the leading role of Detective Yoshioka, and the rapport between these two really shines through. Yakusho’s brooding and metally fragile take on his roles fits perfectly with Kurosawa’s visions. These two together really remind of what Max von Sydow was to Ingmar Bergman. They bring some of the best out of one another.

While I definitely found myself enjoying Retribution, I will admit it’s a bit too ambitious for its own good. It tries to do too many things at once, but only really excels at a couple of them. The horror elements are underwhelming; Yoshioka’s mental instability is decently done, although it pales in comparison to more focused works like Roman Polanski’s Repulsion; the idea of another dark cop seeking redemption is nothing new at all; and the ending leaves something to be desired, even knowing how Kurosawa likes to leave his films open-ended. However, it’s Kurosawa’s take on the problems plaguing modern Japanese society and the themes of feeling left behind that are pretty effective and make the film interesting enough to warrant a look. I can’t really recommend this film on its horror merits, but for those looking for a deeper film should find something to appreciate here. It’s basically Kurosawa indulging himself, but that’s not completely a bad thing.