Freeze Me (2000)

Editor's Note Harumi Inoue stars in Japanese director Takashi Ishii's bloody revenge thriller as Chihiro, a young woman who is trying to make a new life for herself in Tokyo. She has an office job and a fiance (Nogami, played by Shunsuke Matsuoka), but her life changes when the past she is running away from refuses to let her go. Five years earlier, she was raped by a trio of men who videotaped their cruelty. Too afraid to report the incident, Chihiro instead left her town for the big city. But the three men have found her, returning to continue where they'd left off. When Nogami finds out about the rape, he walks out on Chihiro, leaving her to fend for herself. What follows is both brutal and mesmerizing, gory and unforgettable. One of the underlying themes in Ishii's psychological thriller is water. The film opens with a shot of snow falling over a shivering young woman. All the characters are constantly showering. While Chihiro battles her first attacker, she strikes him with a water bottle, and in later fights thunderstorms can be heard outside. And then, of course, there is Chihiro's creative use of freezers in her apartment. Ishii's film is difficult to watch but ultimately gripping and fascinating; Inoue's performance is brave and beautiful, dirty and disturbing.

	Harumi Inoue
	Kazuki Kitamura
	Naoto Takenaka
	Shingo Tsurumi
	Shunsuke Matsuoka
	Takashi Ishii - Director
	Yasushi Saskibara - Director of Photography
	Goro Yasukawa - Musical Score
	Nobuaki Nagae - Producer
	Takashi Ishii - Producer
	Taketo Nitsu - Producer
	Teru Yamazaki - Production Designer
	Takashi Ishii - Writer