Synopsis
Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the backdrop of wealth, this film is loaded with twists and turns and surprises at every corner.
1979 ‘悪魔が来りて笛を吹く’ Directed by Kōsei Saitō
Famous detective Kindaichi solves a series of mysterious murders in a wealthy family. An excellent blend of intrigue and betrayal, set against the backdrop of wealth, this film is loaded with twists and turns and surprises at every corner.
Toshiyuki Nishida Haruko Wanibuchi Jun Miyauchi Tomoko Saitō Terumi Niki Eiko Muramatsu Shino Ikenami Sanae Kitabayashi Noboru Nakaya Jun Fujimaki Rinichi Yamamoto Akira Ishihama Utako Kyō Chieko Murata Hirohisa Nakata Chisako Hara Noboru Mitani Ikkyu Juku Teruo Shimizu Tatsuya Kameyama Kōichi Yamada Masahiro Sumiyoshi Osamu Kimura Eiji Sachi Jirō Sagawa Masumi Sekiya Sayoko Tanimoto Terumi Ushizaki Toshie Kokabu Show All…
悪魔が来りて笛を吹く, 악마가 와서 피리를 분다, 恶魔吹着笛子来
Very Minor Spoiler ahead (just 2 words) but I know you gotta be extra careful with these mystery flicks. You’ve been warned but also you’ll probably be fine.
I was only vaguely aware of the Kindaichi character, I think I read up on him while going through the Obayashi catalogue (his Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi also came out in 1979, between Hausu and School In The Crosshairs, somehow I still haven’t watched that but look for it soon in your local freezer section) so I went into this thing expecting a good solid detective mystery but got so much more, while the mystery elements actually ended up being mildly confusing. I think nearly everyone was guilty of some pretty heinous…
I was initially interested in this movie after seeing images of the Nosferatu-looking guy with the flute, but then when I read the description it said it was a Detective Kindaichi film starring FREE AND EASY actor Toshiyuki Nishida, which led me to be even more curious. What IS this movie exactly?
Well, in retrospect it’s all laid out there — it’s a murder mystery with very light supernatural themes and a comedic performance by Nishida as Kindaichi.
Nishida is great. He is funny and sweet and is fun to watch bang his head on the mystery until it is solved. The cast is a lot of familiar faces, and they mostly are similarly great. I love a good melodrama,…
More Kindaichi! I'm pretty sure Lt Columbo took at least some inspiration from Japans favorite detective. This time a seemingly dead man rises from the grave and we get a murder in a locked room along with a lot of family intrigue. Toshiyuki Nishida does a great Kindaichi and the reason behind all the death is nicely twisted but unfortunately the journey towards the revelation is maybe a bit too long. It didn't exactly help that this has never had an official english release and the version I saw has subpar subtitles which left out a sentence here and there. Still worth watching if you like Japanese 70:s thrillers but your first stop here should be The Inugami family.
Toshiyuki Nishida is a pretty good Kindaichi, but he's no Koji Ishizaka, and this is, to my knowledge, the only time he's played the famous detective. Starts out as a nice locked room mystery but expectedly becomes more complex onward. One thing this film heavily suffers from is its length: it's definitely unnecessary and it easily could have lost about 20 minutes. Awesome, if highly anachronistic, soundtrack by the famous musician Hozan Yamamoto.
Unfortunately the subtitles I had weren’t great, cutting out lots of dialogue, and I ended up not knowing the solution to one of the mysteries (which wasn’t as important)
Still, this was a fantastic watch. I fucking love Kosuke Kindaichi now, and this is the fullest depiction of him I’ve seen. You get to see Kindaichi think, whereas Ichikawa lets him mainly lurk in the background. We get to see his social network too 🥰. I adored the opening and the flute interludes. What is it about these 1970s adaptations and being experimental and awesome, always with a killer soundtrack?
It’s a testament to these stories that I’ve only correctly guessed the murderer early on a couple times. I’m not claiming to be a genius at solving things but they aren’t usually hard. It becomes clear before the reveal who it is, though the brilliance of these is that the why is at the heart of everything.
nishida is a great kindaichi, charming, deceptively perceptive, and a total mess. some bizarre visual flair here that reminds me of a more cynical obayashi. a shame that the subs are so spotty, especially for one of these convoluted family relations mysteries