ZERO FOCUS - DVD review

From director Yoshitaro Nomura comes his third film, "Zero Focus", which was based on a best-selling mystery novel by Seicho Matsumoto. Filmed in stark black and white, "Zero Focus" combines the look and mood of a film noir, but without the hard boiled private detective. Instead, the lead protagonist is a newlywed woman who discovers the husband carries some dark secrets. Through this change, the film evokes some of Hitchcock's works like "Rebecca" and "Suspicion."

Teiko has only been married to Kenichi, an ad exec, for only a week and already has to say goodbye when he heads off for a business trip. The trip lasts longer than she expected when no one hears from Kenichi after five days. Teiko along with an investigator sent by Kenichi's company try to follow his footsteps in order to find him. Teiko's examination leads to dead ends quite literally when people start turning up deceased.

The cinematography is wonderful to look at and not just because of the lighting. The director certainly had a painter's eye. There are some great shots to be found, such as a long shot of a funeral procession across a snow-filled field. And the climax set on top of a seaside cliff reminds me of Kurosawa with its triangular positioning of the characters.

The story, however, isn't very well paced. The liner notes compares this film with "Citizen Kane" and "Rashomon." But, those gave us enough information through flashbacks to keep us both interested and informed. Here, the first hour follows Teiko on her search for her husband but nothing comes out until the last half hour. It's a bit tedious to sit through a long, slow paced setup to get a whole lot of exposition at the end. Still, there are a lot of twists and turns during the conclusion. Like "Rashomon", nothing is exactly what it seems and there are varying accounts of what really occurred.

VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is nearly pristine. The blacks and whites come in strong and I couldn't spot any grain or specks.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in mono with its original Japanese language track with optional English subtitles. The audio is crisp and the score has a total film noir feel to it.

EXTRAS:
The only extras is the theatrical trailer along with the usual a text-based filmography for the director and liner notes.

FILM VALUE:
The visuals are gorgeous, so you've got something pretty to look at during the slow sections. Clues aren't really laid out, but the ending is very strong. Just when you think you've got the answers, the filmmakers twist the situation into something unexpected.