Cold Fish (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #30

They say that a good film shouldn't just tell an interesting story, it should have a character arc. This is the development of the main character from one person to another over the course of a film. Sometimes minor characters in a film also have a character arc, but the focus is on the main character. This could be a moral development, i.e. a bad person learns to do good deeds. More commonly, it's a heroic development, i.e. a person who's weak finds the courage to perform great feats. Think about your favourite film, and you can probably find a character arc. I'll just give one obvious example: in "Doctor Strange" the main character, Doctor Stephen Strange, starts the film as a self-centred man who only believes in what he can see with his own eyes. After a car accident he goes on a spiritual journey to become a selfless warrior who masters the mystic arts, the things that can't be seen.

Character arcs are usually an upward journey. The main character progresses on a journey of improvement. In "Cold Fish" the arc is in the opposite direction. Nobuyuki Shamoto begins the film as the hard-working owner of a shop that sells tropical fish. He loves his wife and his daughter. Over the course of 12 days he becomes a cold-blooded killer who beats his wife and his daughter. 

How can this happen? How could a good man sink so deep?

The more important question is, could this happen to me or you?

Shamoto is put under extreme pressure. His whole world is torn apart when he meets the owner of a bigger tropical fish store, Yukio Murata. He's forced to participate in deeds he would never have considered possible.

Would I break under pressure like this? I think not, but I'd rather not be put to the test.

A message at the beginning of the film announces it as a true story:

The expression "based on a true story" is vague. In some cases it could mean that the film is a completely accurate depiction of real events. In the case of Sion Sono, almost all of his films are based on true stories, but what he means is that he's taken something he heard on the news and has used it as a premise for a film. He wrote "Love Exposure" after hearing about the Japanese Aleph cult, which bears only a vague similarity to the Zero Church in his film. "Cold Fish" is inspired by a Japanese serial killer who owned a dog kennel.

In my review of "Ed Wood" I wrote that I intend to have a true story month later this year, but I didn't know if I have enough films for a whole month. Today I stood in front of my bookshelves and pulled out all the films based on true stories, in the accurate meaning of the word. I found 36 films: 17 DVDs and 19 Blu-rays. Impressive. When I came upstairs I remembered a few other films that I hadn't noticed. I'll reduce the pile of films to 30 or 31, depending on the month. I'll give priority to the films I like the most. I don't know yet how I'll order them. Maybe chronologically, based on the events in the film. Maybe alphabetically? Most likely I'll put them in random order, so I can't be accused of making mistakes.

Keep reading my blog. You know it makes sense.

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