Inju: The Beast in the Shadow
Encyclopedia
Inju: The Beast in the Shadow (aka Inju, la bête dans l'ombre) is a 2008 film by Barbet Schroeder
based on a 1928 novel by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo
(The novel has been published in English by Kurodahan Press under the title Beast in the Shadows in a dual edition with The Black Lizard http://www.kurodahan.com/mt/e/catalog/j0017cate.html). The film stars Benoît Magimel
and Lika Minamoto and was filmed on location in Tokyo
.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival
in August 2008, followed by the Toronto International Film Festival
in September, 2008. The film was released in France
on September 3, 2008.
Barbet Schroeder
Barbet Schroeder is a Franco-Swiss movie director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette.-Life and career:...
based on a 1928 novel by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo
Edogawa Rampo
, better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...
(The novel has been published in English by Kurodahan Press under the title Beast in the Shadows in a dual edition with The Black Lizard http://www.kurodahan.com/mt/e/catalog/j0017cate.html). The film stars Benoît Magimel
Benoît Magimel
Benoît Magimel is a French actor. A prolific actor who was 14 when he appeared in his first film, Magimel has starred in a variety of roles in French cinema....
and Lika Minamoto and was filmed on location in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in August 2008, followed by the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
in September, 2008. The film was released in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on September 3, 2008.
Critical reception
Critical reaction to the film after its Venice premiere was largely negative. Geoffrey Macnab wrote:Inju, the Beast in the Shadow is a bold but arguably misguided affair....[I]t is pitched somewhere between a B-thrillerB movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
and Nagisa OshimaNagisa Oshimais a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
's In the Realm of the SensesIn the Realm of the Sensesis a 1976 Franco-Japanese romantic drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima. It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of an incident from 1930s Japan, that of Sada Abe...
. Corny plot twists, transgressive sex and self-reflexive asides about cinema sit side by side. Many in Venice found it preposterous and it was given a rough ride by the volatile Italian press.