In the midst of the surge of J-horror following the success of “Ringu”, it seems that someone had an idea of parodying the standards (cliches if you prefer) of the category. That someone was Shinji Aoyama and the film was “Embalming”, a production that is deceptively badly written and occasionally directed, still managing, though, to retain its fun element from beginning to end.
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Embalmer Miyako Murakami is called by her detective friend Hiraoka to treat the body of teenager Yuki Shindo, the son of a politician, after he jumps from a rooftop, apparently in a suicide. A needle found in the body, however, leads Miyako into thinking that there may be more to his death, while Hiraoka seems to think that the deceased's girlfriend, Rika is more involved than she appears to be. And more there is, in abundance actually, as her investigation leads her to Dr Fuji and a black marker operation of organ harvesting, a religious cult headed by a former doctor who hopes to “reset” people's personalities like a computer, a girl with quadrophenia that seems to be the lover of the Shindo but also of his secret twin brother, not to mention a connection with her own past and the reasons she ended up being an embalmer.
Considering all the aforementioned narrative elements that appear in the story, the overall approach Aoyama implements in his film borders on being soapy, with the last aspect mentioned above definitely moving towards the particular direction. Furthermore, the overall sense of dark humor is actually evident throughout, even in the most violent scenes, particularly in the way the story unfolds with each new revelation. At the same time, though, the overall atmosphere does emerge as one of angst and permeating danger, both due to the disorientation about what is actually happening, and due to the main concept of embalming, which, occasionally, is presented with all its appalling glory. This is not to say that Aoyama indulges into any kind of fanservice, but a grotesqueness still exists, particularly when a dead body is present on screen.
And although the inclusion of the all the aforementioned elements moves into ironic paths, the mocking is actually not so obvious and it would take someone knowing Aoyama's filmography (“Helpless”, “Eureka”, “Eri Eri”) and its quality, to realize that he is actually parodying here, at least cinematically. This aspect is actually connected with the atmosphere, which also benefits the most by Ihiro Nishikubo's cinematography, which is quite competent in presenting scenes of angst and occasionally horror, while the embalming ones move into chilling territories, in the most entertaining fashion. Shinji Aoyama and Soichi Ueno's editing result in a mid-tempo that gets slower or faster according to the scenes (slower in the lengthy dialogue scenes, faster in the action one), which, again, suits the overall aesthetics quite nicely.
Another point of appeal here is the casting and occasionally, the acting. Seijun Suzuki as Kurume, an older associate of Miyako adds an element of cult by himself in the movie, with his demeanor moving somewhere between the wisdom and the senility. Reiko Takashima as Miyako plays the ‘soap opera star' who happens to be an embalmer with gusto, while Yutaka Matsushige as Hiraoka functions as a character straight from a noir film, appearing cool at all times. The one who steals the show though is definitely Toshio Shiba as Dr Fuji, with his calm and detached demeanor even during the most shocking events being captivating to watch, while his lengthy discussions with Miyako, that also reveal the reasons he came to be this way, among the most appealing parts of the movie, at least contextually.
“Embalming” is a very smart film, which I feel would have more impact if watched during the J-horror era, but still remains fascinating and unsettling when watched today, highlighting Aoyama's intelligence while offering entertainment aplenty, even if in a rather different way than one would expect from a horror movie.
