The very nature of a crime, essentially a sin, and the evilness that is generally associated with it are explored through the story of three friends in an idyllic Japanese countryside town in Yuki Saito‘s debut feature “Sin and Evil”.
Sin and Evil is screening at Camera Japan
Haru, Akira, Saku and Masaki are best friends, middle-school classmates and football teammates, all hailing from different family backgrounds, but their differences only make their bond stronger. Haru lives in a toxic, abusive family where no one gets along with each other due to a family tragedy, whereas Akira is the loved son of a policeman father. One day, Masaki doesn’t turn up for an important football match and is later found drowned in the river. Saku suspects he was raped, killed and dumped in the water by a perverted old man who lives in a shanty by the edge of the town. When they go to investigate, they find Masaki’s bloodied football spikes and in a fit of rage, kill the old man and burn his body to get rid of the evidence.
Twenty years later, Akira Yoshida is an upright police officer himself with a straight moral compass, whereas Haru Sakamoto runs a successful construction and restaurant business, while also being a fixer for both the yakuza and the police. Saku Asakura, on the other hand, works on his family farm and while none of them let it show, at least Akira and Saku carry the guilt of their crime to the day. When another kid, linked with the case Akira is working and with Haru’s organisation, is found killed in the same spot Masaki’s body was found, the three estranged friends must get together to find out who is the perpetrator and why this death has such a striking similarity to their friend’s death.
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Saito relies on his own writing abilities for his debut, with a script that has a calmness to it that is generally attached to Japanese indies. Despite having a crime at its centre, the narrative opts for a leisurely pace, taking its time to establish its characters well. While its doesn’t really get annoying digressive, it does take a very roundabout way to get where it needs to. Through the course of its characters’ journey, the feature contemplates the weight of guilt and how long the people involved with it carry it on their shoulders. Sin, especially one as heinous as murder, as a concept is also dissected, with Sato arguing that not every sin, no matter how bad, has evil associated with it. In one beautiful moment, the relief that asking for forgiveness and receiving it brings is wonderfully portrayed.
Through its characters, the story also inspects just how blurred the line that separates the people standing on different sides of the law is, and ponders how similar those people are and who really is on the right side of it. While Haru’s character is best used in this manner, it is in fact Akira’s superior Sato who better portrays this duality. The adult Akira, in this regards comes across as a rather two-dimensional character. Saku, meanwhile, isn’t developed very well, but a key moment shared between him and Akira in the latter’s house is a highlight.
This particular scene is rather well acted, with Shunsuke Daitoh as the adult Akira and Takuya Ishida as Saku delivering the well-written dialogues with conviction. Daitoh does get the meatier role of the two, since his is a character that appears on screen more, whereas Ishida, despite portraying a central character, doesn’t really get a lot of moments to excel. The feature, however, belongs to Kengo Kora as the adult Haru. Oozing style and swagger, his gangster businessman, who has all ten of his fingers in many pies, is a delight to watch. Here is a man capable of being a loving husband and father, while giving it the large one to bigger gangster fish and being a faithful friend.
His mere presence brightens up the screening, often literally thanks to the pristine, very modern costumes for the character as well as the cinematography, which seems to brighten the picture purposely when Haru is supposed to be in his element. Two key scenes with Akira, one in his office and the other on the bridge, showcase the actor’s range quite well. The climax, in particular, utilises all three of its leads to good effect. Special mention must also go to the sparingly used background score, the highlight of which is a low vocal track used to accompany some key moments, most uniquely in the scene where Haru’s establishment is attacked, and the climactic conversation between the three friends.
“Sin and Evil” may not be a perfect picture, its lack of attention to all key characters is a particular shame, as is the reveal in the finale, which can be called speculative at best, but it does enough to showcase first-time director Yuki Saito’s skill in both telling an interesting enough story and getting good performances out of his actors. If for nothing, watch it for Kengo Kora’s excellent turn as Haru Sakamoto.
