‘Vital’ Review: Dreamlike Drama Doesn’t Fully Deliver
Shinya Tsukamoto‘s 2004 film Vital is about as close to a conventional drama as he might ever get. The film focuses on Hiroshi Takagi (played by the always charming Tadanobu Asano), a medical student who has lost his memory following a car crash. After floating through life like a zombie, his memories become reawakened, when he is made to dissect the body of Ryoko, his girlfriend who died in the same car crash.
The movie has a dreamlike tone, shuffling across various stretches of time and frequently cutting between past and present, as well as dreams and reality. Tsukamoto’s heavy use of colored washes and atmospheric effects also helps in creating the oneiric and contemplative feel of the movie. It also eschews a great deal of the violence and sensationalism that is a feature of many of Tsukamoto’s movies, instead focusing on themes of love and grief. As with many of Tsukamoto’s other movies, and perhaps even more so here, the narrative is driven more by theme than by plot, with the juxtaposition of disparate ideas, scenes, and images via editing being the main vehicle for creating meaning within the story.
While it is well made and well acted, with some interesting stylistic flourishes, Vital is surprisingly inert for much of its runtime. It’s never boring, but it also lacks a strong source of dramatic tension to pull one through the movie. Events tend to unfold in a easygoing manner, and there were very few points where I was wondering what would happen next, instead simply going along for the ride. It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but it didn’t really work for me here, and the overall effect was underwhelming.
Despite its interesting premise, strong acting, and interesting technical flourishes, Vital isn’t the enthrall piece it could have been. Instead, it remains an interesting and worthwhile piece of filmmaking, but it is far from being a must-watch. This article is part of a series on the works of Shinya Tsukamoto, and you can find previous entries here.
