Eyes of the Spider

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1998 film follows an office worker who kills the man he believes murdered his daughter. Afterwards he returns to his ordinary life, until an old acquaintance approaches him with a strange job offer. The film should be considered alongside Serpent's Path, made the same year. The two were produced back to back with the same crew on a low budget; Sho Aikawa plays a character with the same name in both, though the stories do not continue from each other. They work as two different resolutions of one premise. This version is stiller and stranger. The question at its centre is what remains once revenge is taken; the man feels neither relief nor regret and simply carries on. Kurosawa's use of empty space and long takes is decisive here as well. Who it's for: those who like Kiyoshi Kurosawa and low-budget Japanese crime films. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a paced revenge film; this one is deliberately slow and emotionally cold.