Very well executed

the audience applauded

Let's be realistic.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Slow-burner movie following a timid fish shopkeeper getting bullied by an aggressive competitor --- forced to partake in his "disposing bodies" businessMr. Aggression kills people and makes their families disappear if they don't agree to his motives .. He's teamed with an equally insane wife and a corrupt-business investor .. They bully their way into Mr. Timid life , seducing his wife and daughter with their madness and threatening Mr. Timid with annihilation if he squeals to the police .. One day Mr. Timid snaps and becomes Mr. Aggression himself .

Although COLD FISH is the third film I've seen from cult Japanese director Sion Sono, following on from SUICIDE CLUB and EXTE, it's the first that feels like the work of an auteur rather than just a director-for-hire. For this is an epic story of the flawed human condition, at times a shocking serial killer thriller along the lines of I SAW THE DEVIL, and at other times a warts-and-all portrayal of messed-up family life.The film's incredible plot, which always keeps you guessing and goes into some truly uncharted territory, is best left unsaid, at the risk of spoiling the fun. Suffice to say that it feels hugely fresh and new. The cast give incredibly raw and visceral performances, not least the female cast members who are often asked to show and do everything for their roles. I liked the protagonist's mild-mannered nature, which makes him feel realistic, although it's Denden who gives the film's most show-stopping performance. Otherwise it's a wild ride involving perverse sex, anger, violence, murder, some extreme gore scenes, and a film that feels like something fellow auteur Park Chan-wook would have made. I recommend it, if you have the stomach for it.

Just finished watching this movie and I must say, anyone who's a fan of East Asian horror flicks will like this film. Cold fish is about a meek guy Syamoto and his life which is turned upside down when a fish store owner Murata and his wife enter his life. In the series of events that follows we see extents of Syamoto's spinelessness and Murata's overbearing influence on him and his family. The actor who needs a huge round of applause is Denden as Murata. In his first scene you might think Murata might do a better job at stand up comedy than owning a fish store, only till the movie's developments prove you wrong. Asuka Kurosawa as Murata's wife also needs a huge amount of credit for playing the psychotically laughing character. And so does Mitsuru Fukikoshi himself as Syamoto who plays the meek guy pretty convincingly. Generally in the movies of this genre, the story begins with an unsuspecting group of family or friends that end up in a lonely spot or something along those lines. But Cold Fish sets itself apart as it picks a family next door right from it's normal mundane life situations and throws it into this disturbingly bloody world on screen. Which is why Cold Fish is more convincing than other horror flicks whose tales are situational. I've also never seen so much blood in a single movie before, which is telling considering the number of horror flicks I watch. The story is gripping and puts you on the edge of your seat at all times and the twists and turns keep coming. While there are not so many twists that the story ends up being nonsensical, but they are disturbing yet realistic enough that you find yourself in Syamoto's daughter's shoes when she breaks out in a hysterical laughter towards the end of the film. A good watch for sure.

Mild mannered Nobuyuki Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), owner of a modest tropical fish shop, lives with his pretty teenage daughter Mitsuki (Hikari Kajiwara) and surprisingly hot second wife Taeko (Megumi Kagurazaka); sadly, the women in his life do not see eye to eye (to put it mildly). When Mitsuko is caught shoplifting, Yukio Murata (Denden), a successful businessman who also sells exotic aquatic livestock, steps in and gets Mitsuki off with a warning. Brash, charismatic, and cunning Murata uses this as an opportunity to begin manipulating the grateful Shamoto family, offering desperate Mitsuki a job as one of his store girls (all of whom are pretty, and wear tight vests and short shorts!), bringing meek Yukio under his wing as his apprentice, and sneaking a shag with the not-very-content Taeko.Murata also reveals to a Nobuyuki his unique method of dealing with difficult acquaintances: he poisons them and then, with help from his obedient and rather sexy wife Aiko (Asuka Kurosawa), takes the bodies to a remote shack where he makes them 'disappear' (ie., chops them up, burns the bones, and sprinkles the remains in the woods). When Murata insists that Yukio help dispose of a victim, he is too shocked and scared too refuse; now, as an accomplice to murder, he finds himself trapped by the over-bearing and frankly quite scary Murata—fearful not only for himself, but also for the lives of his wife and daughter.However, a man can only be pushed so far: after several more stomach-churning visits to the shack, learning of his wife's infidelity, suffering a beating from Murata, and being forced to have sex with Aiko (the poor guy!), Nobiyuki finally snaps, attacking Mr and Mrs Murata with a biro (not the greatest of weapons, perhaps, but it does the trick). Now it is time for Yukio Murata to disappear, with Mrs. Murata only too happy to help, clearly turned on by the fact that Nobiyuki has at last grown a pair. The now empowered Nobiyuki also sets about straightening out his ungrateful wife and daughter, using methods definitely NOT sanctioned by most family guidance counsellors.Other reviews here on IMDb comment on what a harsh viewing experience Cold Fish is, with its brutal murders, bodily dismemberment, rape and in your face gore; but while it's certainly not what I'd call family viewing, I wasn't too fazed by the extreme content, finding much of the film darkly humorous rather than disturbing (but then I've watched a fair few gruesome Asian movies in my time, and am probably a tad desensitised). Indeed, I was ready to dismiss the film as a far-fetched and overlong wish-fulfilment fantasy for downtrodden Japanese males, when I decided to watch the interview with investigative journalist Jake Adelstein on the extras disc, something that altered my perception of the film slightly. Although the beginning of Cold Fish had stated that it was based on a true story, I had taken this with a large pinch of salt (so many movies make this wild claim); as it happens, most of what director Shion Sono depicts proves to be not all that far from the truth (at least until Nobiyuki snaps), making his film a lot more chilling in retrospect.