Cold Fish
A deliciously warped wallow in misogyny, depravity and dead-eyed manipulation, Cold Fish charts the twisted alliance of two tropical-fish salesmen with baleful glee.
A brilliantly edited shopping-and-cooking sequence introduces us to Taeko (Megumi Kagurazaka), the deeply unhappy second wife of Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) and the stepmother to his hateful daughter, Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara). A spineless doormat, Shamoto is flattered by the unexpected attentions of Murata (Denden), the voluble owner of a magnificent fish emporium. In short order, Murata has bedded Taeko and all but adopted Mitsuko; he has also made Shamoto an unwilling accomplice to his psychopathic killing sprees.
Directed by the Japanese provocateur Sion Sono, Cold Fish gradually evolves from a small domestic drama into a symphony of mauled breasts, marital rape and mutilated corpses. Propelled by slaughterhouse levels of gore and wickedly absurdist humor, the film mitigates its brutality with committed acting and a script that smartly plumbs the relationship between the cramped Japanese home ― the lack of windows, the shrunken appliances ― and familial violence.
Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times
Original title: Tsumetai Nettaigyo
Duration: 144 min
Dialogue: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K18
