Review for Cold Fish (2010) (Review)

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Introduction
Third Window Films have in recent years single-handedly championed the cause of Eastern independent cinema, bringing some of the most stunning and inventive Japanese and Korean films to the UK, and highlighting the talents of some unique and quirky directors. Now it seems that the rest of the industry is catching on. Third Window may have released two of Sion Sono's films in the UK, Love Exposure and this, Cold Fish, but it will be Eureka Entertainment who will release Guilty of Romance later this year. Quite frankly, the more innovative world cinema that we get in the UK, the better. But I have to say that of the two Sion Sono films that I have seen, both have given me cause to hesitate before pressing play. With Love Exposure, it was the sheer length of the film, 4 hours, 2 discs worth that had me looking in my calendar weeks in advance to ensure that I had the time. With Cold Fish, it's the subject matter that gives me pause. It's something of a gory psychological horror, perhaps my least favourite genre of cinema. Then again, this is Sion Sono, so it's safe to say that this will be the least mainstream psychological horror that you can imagine. With Cold Fish, Third Window Films have something of a coup, as it will be released in the UK even before its native Japan, and we get it on sumptuous Blu-ray as well.

Shamoto thought he had a dysfunctional family. The quiet, undemonstrative man runs a tropical fish shop with his second wife Taeko, and his daughter Mitsuko. Mitsuko has never accepted Taeko as a replacement for her dead mother. Taeko refuses to respond whenever Shamoto has a rare moment alone with her, and the temperature in their household never gets above frosty. But then one day Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a local supermarket. They meet a man named Murata who helps settle things, and seeing Mitsuko's rebellious tendencies, he even offers her a job at his shop, coincidentally another, larger tropical fish store, as a way of instilling a sense of responsibility. He's friendly, gregarious, and takes Shamoto and his family to his heart, as does his wife Aiko. But Murata's policy is to have his employees live at a dormitory near his shop. Then Murata invites Taeko to discuss her stepdaughter's future prospects as pretext to have sex with her. Then Murata offers Shamoto a chance to sit on a lucrative deal breeding fish, to get his help convincing a reluctant investor named Yoshida. Then when Yoshida signs on the dotted line, Murata and his wife poison him, and force Shamoto to help them dispose of the body. Now that's dysfunctional!

Picture
The 1.85:1 widescreen image is lush on this Blu-ray. It's crisp, vivid and detailed, which has to be balanced with the film's rather dark, naturalistic look. It's a realistic style, grainy and usually in natural lighting conditions that means that darker scenes will be less detailed than brighter ones, and that immediate visual pop that some may have come to expect from high definition images is replaced with something a little more subtle and atmospheric. Of course, given the number of HDTVs that are demoed with footage of the undersea world, it's fair to say that the various tropical fish in the film look amazing.

The images are sourced courtesy of Third Window Films, and may not necessarily represent the final Blu-ray release.

Sound
The sole audio track is a quite resplendent DTS-HD MA 5.1 Japanese track, and you also get optional English subtitles. The sound isn't immediately enveloping, rather it too is subtle and atmospheric. There are moments of stridency to be sure, but it is a dialogue heavy piece, realistic and understated, certainly not an action movie. It's only as the film reaches its climax do you realise how subtle the sound design is. There are moments of background noise, music, or effects, early on in the film that you may just dismiss as tonal moments that are related to that particular scene, and otherwise forgettable, but in fact turn out to presage what happens towards the end of the film. It's almost a subliminal effect, but brilliantly realised.

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