The Neighbor No. Thirteen

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for me it was hard to follow at first. It took me some time to understand what was going on in the movie. The start and the end were confusing to me. I had bought it to see how Yumi Yoshimura was as an actress; I feel she did an excellent job in the movie. I'm a Puffy fan so I wanted to see her performance. The main theme of the movie was about bullying that was a problem in Japanese schools and revenge, etc. Some of the scenes were over the top by American standards but I tried to keep it in the Japanese prospective. I feel I would not have bothered with the movie if it wasn't for Yumi Yoshimura.

First time director attempt to deliver a twisted tale of troubled young psychopath who was tormented by a bully who scars the boy both mentally and physically. This leads to him to create a split personality that brings out a violent side when angry and or bullied. Although the movie is violent, the scenes are rather spread out and far an few in between. It plays out more of a drama then a a revenge flick full of blood and gore. When it comes down to it , the movie had potential but falls flat due to horrible pacing.

This Movie made the switch from one pesonality to the next so easy to follow. It was a little off in some places, but it was still pretty good though.

"The Neighbor No. Thirteen" ("Rinjin 13-go") is a film absolutely packed with talent. Shido Nakamura, who plays the title character of No. Thirteen, is an acclaimed Kabuki actor who made his stage debut at age nine. He made his transition to film work, and has appeared in great films such as "Ping Pong" and "Letters from Iwo Jima". Yumi Yoshimura, who plays Nozomi Akai, is probably best known as one half of the pop duo "Puffy Amiyumi", and a cartoon character on Cartoon Network's "Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi". And if the name Takashi Miike, playing the role of the angry neighbor Kaneda, doesn't ring any bells then you need to look a little deeper into the genre of Japanese horror. But a lot of famous names doesn't always make a great flick, especially when among them are a pop princess and an avant-garde film director, and the plot of the movie is being adapted from a comic book. In this case, however, it works. All the pieces click together, and the result is an innovative and entertaining film. Not bad at all for first-time director Yasuo Inoue. The story is very topical to modern Japan, taking on the subject of school yard bullying. More than one young child has murdered another in revenge for intolerable abuse, and even more have commited suicide rather than face another day as a constant target. "The Neighbor No. Thirteen" imagines a scenario where this revenge is repressed, and allowed to fester across the years, until it boils up to the surface taking on a life of its own. Like most Japanese horror films, the pacing is slower and the story more subtle than a typical revenge flick. Of course, there is blood and plenty of it, but it isn't a case of trying to kill each victim in a new and more cruel way, or an attempt to shock and disgust the audience with gore. There is more psychology than psycho-killer.

Nothing like the definite articles to confound the Asian language as we see in the title of the film. The film is dubbed in English. Jûzô Murasaki was bullied as a youngster by Akai and his gang. Later in life Jûzô lives in apartment 13 while Akai lives in 23. He winds up working for a construction company where Akai continues to bully him. Jûzô develops an alter ego which enacts revenge. The alter ego is "my real face" as it is disfigured from acid. This is a film that is well done, well written, but has low action level and the plot didn't overly engage me in spite of being clever. The dialogue I found boring. The entertainment value left a little something to be desired. The comedian on TV was cringe worthy. The film has blood, bullying, violence and male rear nudity. The ending was unexpected. Note: If pouring acid on someone, you should wear gloves, apron, safety goggles and a face shield...just saying. If you get acid spilled on you, 15 minutes of flushing is recommended. HF acids spills require special treatment.