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| Masumi Harukawa in Intentions of Murder |
Shohei Imamura's dark, even cynical vision was never more fully on display than in Intentions of Murder, a thriller in which a woman's revenge on her rapist is accomplished more by accident than intent. Sadako (Masumi Harukawa) is alone in her house when an intruder in search of money discovers and rapes her. A plain, overweight woman, Sadako is in a loveless marriage arrangement (the relationship has never been officially cerified) with Koichi (Ko Nishimura), raising his son by another marriage and generally being scorned by his family. Koichi, a librarian, is meanwhile having an affair with his colleague Yoshiko (Yuko Kusonoki). Sadako contemplates suicide after the rape but fails to follow through, and when she again encounters the rapist, Hiraoka (Shigeru Tsuyuguchi), he develops an obsession with her. Discovering that she's pregnant and uncertain whether the child is Hiraoka's or Koichi's, she agrees to run away with Hiraoka to Tokyo, planning to poison him along the way. Meanwhile, Yoshiko discovers Sadako's relationship with Hiraoka, and begins following them, taking photographs of the pair to persuade Koichi to leave Sadako and marry her. This complex, melodramatic plot takes some twists before an ending in which Sadako is ironically better off than she started. Expressionist camerawork sets the mood and tone for the film, which never lets the viewer relax enough to question some of its characterization and motives.
