Mamoru (Yoshikata Matsuki) owns a printing press business with his wife Tomiko (Mayuko Sasaki). When an accident kills his mother and leaves him paralyzed, it threatens to close the shop down. Desperate to keep the business up and running, Tomiko hires a drifter named Ryuzo (Keisaku Kimura) to help run the printing press. It doesn’t take long for the two to start knocking the boots. Their happiness is eventually threatened when Mamoru finds out the two have been making time behind his back. Naturally, Ryuzo has been harboring a dark secret, but his secrets pale in comparison next to the ones Tomiko’s been hiding.
From the early scene where Sasaki spills her mother in-law’s ashes and masturbates with her remains, you know Mourning Wife is going to be a little different than the rest. Allegedly a remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, director Daisuke Goto resists the temptation to take the material down the usual pathways. (I mean, was there a masturbating with skull fragments scene in the old John Garfield movie?) While it still plays by the rules of classic film noir, the film has fun poking at the confines of the genre. It explores unique angles within the love triangle dynamic and introduces new wrinkles into their relationships that your average noir thriller just would not explore (like Sasaki’s previous affair with a lesbian doctor).
Mourning Wife is just a little different at every corner to keep you on your toes. The only place it really disappoints is the ending. (Although, quite honestly, the movie would’ve been hard pressed to top the masturbating with your mother in-law’s remains scene.) While it still follows in the grand noir tradition where everyone gets what’s coming to them, it’s ultimately far too abrupt and unsatisfying to really pack its intended wallop. Other than that oversight, it remains a solid, sexy, and unusual thriller.
AKA: An Affair with a Woman in Mourning.
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