Fantasia Festival Report: The Neighbor No. 13 (Rinjin 13)

Yasuo Inoue's Rinjin 13 proves to be something of a mixed bag. The violent revenge drama has a great deal to recommend it, particularly on the technical front, but a weak ending leaves the film feeling rather too much like a Hollywood PG-13 horror film: it sets a great many wheels in motion but when time comes for the payoff it turns suddenly soft.

The titular Neighbor Juso Murasaki has one vicious case of split personality disorder. Tormented as a child to the point of being held to the floor while acid was poured on his face by classmates Juzo has dealt with his trauma by splitting into two distinct personalities. There is the quiet and meek Juzo that shies away from confrontation and then there is the violent, rage filled Juzo - the side that carries all the pain of his past. At the center of Juzo's painful past is Tohru Akai, a schoolyard bully. Is it a coincidence that Juzo moves into Akai's building and takes a job with the same construction company or is there something darker at work? I'll give you a hint: go with door number two.

Rinjin 13 is an impressive piece of work on a few levels. Inoue is an impressive technical director and he loads the film with fantastic visuals and sound design, particular in the sequences where Juzo's two sides square off to fight for dominance in his mind. The handling of the split personality is also a very strong point, with two different actors handling the different sides and the transitions handled flawlessly. Inoue should also be commended for the depth he gives his characters, with both of his leads being rich and complex characters. He has set himself a difficult task by going for the sympathetic and conflicted serial killer in Juzo but he makes it work and makes it work well. Many have also, no doubt, heard the rumblings that cult director Takashi Miike appears in the film, which is true, but don't get too excited on that front as his cameo is of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety.

The film isn't all good, though. It has pacing problems throughout, frequently slowing down to a slow crawl. There are also moments when the emotional responses of key characters in key situations completely fail to ring true. The film could overcome these weaknesses if it built to a strong ending, though, but alas the ending largely betrays everything that came before. Rather than building to a rousing climax the film collapses into tepid, horribly staged tedium. The final sequence drags out seemingly forever with the final resolution taking a shockingly soft and easy way out.

The pluses in the film are plentiful and strong enough to convince me that Inoue has what it takes to become a significant force down the road if he can deal with the script and pacing problems that hinder him here. Not at all a perfect film, but intriguing in a number of ways.