Description:

39 keihô dai sanjûkyû jô - Based on a real-life trial in Japan, Keiho is a fascinating thriller dealing with memory, guilt and justice.

Stage actor Masaki Shibata is arrested for the murder of a man and his wife, whom he claims interrupted his acting performance. He admits to the murder, but seems mentally unbalanced; he says his motive was that the woman, who was five months pregnant, criticized his one-man show.

It would be an open-and-shut case except for Article 39 (Japanese criminal law which protects mentally challenged individuals from unreasonable penalty) which requires that Masaki must go through a psychological examination to determine his sanity. However, the assistant psychiatrist doesn't quite believe his story of schizophrenia and investigates further with the help of a cynical detective. Soon, more complex layers of psychological and criminal pasts are revealed.

Director: Yoshimitsu Morita

Stars: Kyoka Suzuki, Shinichi Tsutsumi and Ittoku Kishibe

1999 – JAPANESE with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES – COLOR – 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN - 133 MINUTES



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