The Castle of Sand

Yoshitarō Nomura's 1974 Japanese film is adapted from the novel by Seichō Matsumoto. An old man is found beaten to death in a Tokyo rail yard; his identity cannot be established and all that exists is a few words overheard in a bar. Two detectives follow that clue across the country, and the investigation reaches the hidden past of a rising composer. The last section is a long flashback: the composer's father contracted leprosy, and father and son were driven from village after village and lived on the road for years. Nomura is not content to solve the murder and puts the social exclusion of the sick at the centre, stating it plainly at the close. The finale, which interleaves a concert with the past, is among the best known passages in Japanese cinema. It runs close to two and a half hours. Who it's for: viewers who like Japanese crime films and slowly built mysteries. Who it's not for: anyone expecting a fast investigation; the film wanders at length.