Set in the early 20th century, this wonderfully eerie 1999 thriller from Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: Iron Man) focuses on a doctor named Yukio, whose life is more than a bit stressful. His marriage to a beautiful amnesiac named Rin doesn't sit well with his parents, while his priority attention to wealthier patients is generating ill will among those in a poorer neighborhood afflicted by a plague. If this isn't bad enough, Yukio is being shadowed by his evil twin—the hitherto unknown Sutekichi, given away at birth because of a disfiguring scar—who launches his long-awaited revenge on his biological family by throwing Yukio down a dry well and keeping him prisoner there, after which he to goes to Rin, with whom he may have been familiar before she lost her memory. This chilling adaptation of the Edogawa Rampo short story “The Twins” can be seen as either a dissection of the “sins of the father” theme or as a genuinely shocking psychological revenge drama. Boasting a wonderful dual performance by Masahiro Motoki as the brothers, and imaginative direction by Tsukamoto, Gemini is highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a “making of” featurette by director Takashi Miike and one on make-up. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a fine foreign film.] (P. Hall)
Gemini
Image, 83 min., in Japanese w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $19.99 Volume 21, Issue 5
Gemini
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