Crappy film

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The Neighbour No. 13 explores the consequences of humiliation, abuse and torture among young teenagers and children. Juzo Murasaki arrives at a work construction area to take on his new job. Unfortunately for him, his supervisor turns out to be Akai, the one that has previously tortured him when both of them were only young teenagers. After years of repressed memories, Juzo develops a psychopathic alter ego that finally decides to seek revenge against Akai and his family, in a surrealistic journey that dissects the fears and enraged violence inside the human mind.Review The film is served in an exceptionally slow pace allowing the viewer to be submerged in the intriguing atmosphere in which a considerable number of disturbing scenes simply tend to pile up, notwithstanding no further clue of the upcoming events being expected. The violence in The Neighbour No. 13 is thoroughly presented throughout the movie, alternating with traces of humorous moments and apparently childish scenes. The scenes appear to be fairly well-orchestrated by the director, being presented in a particularly raw and cruel way, thus enhancing a feeling of repulsion since the type of violence and to whom it is addressed is indeed the most disturbing side of the violent behavior in this case.As the number of flashbacks tends to increase, Juzo is apparently sent into a downward spiral, leaving him desperate to gain control of his own mind. Surrealistic unorganized events, sometimes-incomprehensible perspective and grotesque animated scenes contribute to perfectly illustrate Juzo's disconnection from the reality. Nonetheless, towards the end of the movie however, the last scenes will eventually tie up any loose ends and a possible feeling of confusion that has been build up throughout the film.The physical characterization of Juzo and his revenge driven created alter ego is also of particular interest as Juzo appears as a delicate young man and No. 13 is better described as a disturbing disfigured emotionless creature. The scenes representing Juzo's mind were particularly well shot and quite bizarre in an interesting way. The remaining characters were for the most part attention-grabbers, even though rudeness and bullying can easily borderline annoyance, which was fortunately not the case in the movie. There is no particular character development for the most part excepting Juzo himself as the film represents his own journey, facing his own fears and demons and finding the necessary empowerment.Bottom line, The Neighbour No. 13 may be described as a dark character study wrapped in surrealistic contours of a vengeance quest, that as clearly something to say about standing up for yourself and fighting back against anybody or anything, allowing the viewer to explore the consequences and costs when repressed hatred and revenge become a part of anyone's reality.Asian-cineblog.blogspot.com

If you are expecting horror, forget it. If you are expecting "psychological thriller," forget that too. In fact, if you are expecting anything halfway moving, gripping, or attention-grabbing in the least, FORGET ALL ABOUT IT.The film has a decent premise but unfortunately displays the absolute worst traits of a certain strain of Japanese horror films which, as another reviewer mentions, owe a lot to Miike's more exasperatingly BORING experiments, such as that "Ichii" crap.The problem here is that this movie move's at a snail's pace. That would have been alright had there been some kind of payoff, but there is not. Characters stare at each other for MINUTES ON END inexplicably in the middle of a @#$# conversation, children see dead, bloodied bodies and simply stand there aloof like scarecrows before casually walking away--countless reactions are completely fake and unrealistic. The film was a great idea but any kind of dramatic effect is robbed from it by the stupid SILENCE and stilted dialogue which plagues the entire film.If you think boring crap such as "964 Pinocchio" and the "All Night Long" series were "disturbing," you'll probably like this film too. If you're looking for a REAL MOVIE, you'll wish you hadn't given it the chance in the first place, especially considering it's nearly two hours long. (If they had had haflway normal dialog and half-way HUMAN reactions among characters, the film would've been an hour and a half).If you're looking for good Asian horror/revenge/drama, see the Korean "Oldboy." As far as "Rinjin 13-gô" goes: AVOID.

And here we have this hidden gem by first time director Yasuo Inoue. "Rinjin 13-go" AKA "Neighbour Number 13" is a revenge driven psychological movie that explores the inner conscience of an individual rejected and abused by society. Stylishly shot, the lead character develops a psychopathic split personality, the action is satisfyingly bloody not all that gory as I expected it would be, most of the violent acts done of-screen and as a hidden surprise it's got a cameo appearance by Takashi Miike. What more could I ask for? Nothing really. But one question still remains. Does it deliver? You bet it does, this a great film and it indeed offers some insightful glimmers into the mind of a psychopath.Jûzô Murasaki (played by Shun Oguri) is an individual who has spent most of his childhood being bullied in school. Often humiliated and beaten he has never been able to stand up for himself. Years have passed since those days and now he has just moved in into his new apartment in a small tenement building. He finds a job as a construction worker under one, Tôru Akai (played by Hirofumi Arai). Akai, to put it simply is a bully. He spends most of his time torturing those that are underneath his rank, those that can't stand up for themselves. To make matters even worse Akai lives in the same apartment building one floor above. Juzo's childhood nightmare is brought back to the surface as he is subjected to a series of pranks leading up to a point where he is trapped in a toilet by Akai. Then, enters Number 13, Jûzô's split personality. One very nasty fellow who unlike his "roomate" has no qualms to use violence against, anybody or anything. 13 is the vessel holding all the anger, all the rage that has been building up in Jûzô for years. Once he is free all hell brakes loose, there are no more moral barriers to cross, everyone in his path gets it one way or the other. Inoue does a commendable job in directing this movie. Bordering near the realm of the surreal, "Neighbour Number 13" is a dreamlike slasher, that has more brains than guts. Inoue makes it very clear that the story is much more complicated than it seems at first. Several sequences point to that, one good example is the opening shot. Showing us the arrival of NO.13 into Jûzô's mind. Not to mention the open-ended ending that certainly leaves a lot to think about. The actors do their jobs accordingly and it does feel very organic the way their characters react. Miike's surprise cameo is another cool addition (not to mention the way he gets killed)to this already good film, I'm not going to lie his appearance is partially one of the reasons why I watched this, so yeah I'm glad he's here even if it is for a few seconds or so.So what do we have in the end? "Neighbour Number 13" a vastly enjoyable movie be it revenge/slasher/character study/psychological see it for whatever type you desire or just watch it as something unique, an amalgam that stays in a genre of its own. For a first time director Yasuo Inoue demonstrates some impressive skills and I'm definitely going to wait and see what he'll cook up in the future.

I have just watched the film, and there is not much I can say without spoiling some of it for you. Let's just say that is a revenge film, and like many Japanese films of its type, insanity plays a part. The film starts when a young man, Juzo, gets a job at a construction company. We learn that Juzo spent much of his school years hiding from bullies (and from the introduction, also being tortured in some VERY shocking ways). The cruel attacks by his supervisor at the site begin to affect Juzo, bringing more and more of his school memories to the surface, and the desire for REVENGE.*The Neighbour Number 13 (Rinjin jusan go)* That's all I can say really, as I don't want to spoil or diffuse this film. I am pretty sure if you do a search you will find a couple of reviews on the boards, from the cinema release, but beware of spoilers: the story is everything in this film, there are few twists and turns, and some sections will leave you stumped.I liked this film: it is very stylishly shot, and the use of colour is fantastic in some scenes. I have never read the original comic that this film is based on, but I can only assume that the film's many lapses into the surreal are faithful to the source: there is even an animated section of the film, and identifying the reality in this film is not always an easy thing to do.There are some very still sequences that reminded me of Kitano's films (Hanabi or Brother in particular), and some of the more insane scenes are definitely like adding a pinch of Miike to the mix. While there is a fair bit of violence in the film, most of it occures offscreen, though the fate of one character is shown particularly graphically.One aspect of the film that I am sure is from the source material, as it seems to be a very manga thing to do, is the depiction of some of the more grosser things in life, ie: bodily excretions, both liquid and solid are shown in this film, when I am sure few Hollywood films would not. It's nothing too graphic, but it was enough to make me squeal "Ewww gross!" like little girl. tongue.gif So in the end, I quite enjoyed this film. It is stylish, tense and atmospheric. This director's style, reminds me in some ways of Kitano's older work, in that I felt sometimes that was just following the characters around. Some scenes are just not trimmed down to keep the action flowing, and I like that. Like I said, there are some quiet moments, but they are often filmed in a kind of detached manner, and filled with tension, possibly reminiscent of Kiyoshi Kurosawa.The Neighbour Number 13 is a film that would be best watched with friends, and discussed over SEVERAL pints of beer - or at least Cokes and Gummi bears tongue.gif While it isn't amazing, it is very interesting and looks fantastic. If you have bought all of your essentials and you are looking for a sidedish, I can fully recommend this film.