Ningyo densetsu (1984)

Ningyo densetsu: Directed by Toshiharu Ikeda. With Mari Shirato, Kentarô Shimizu, Jun Etô, Seiji Miyaguchi. Woman is avenging the death of her husband in this slightly supernatural drama.

“This is one of Toshiharu Ikedau0026#39;s earliest films; heu0026#39;s best known for EVIL DEAD TRAP.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut this incredible fantasy (English title: MERMAID LEGEND) is perfection.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA fisherman is murdered by developers who want him to give up his land. His wife plots and exacts revenge against his killers.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA brief synopsis can do no justice to the beauty and ferocity of Ikedau0026#39;s vision. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMari Shirato delivers one of the finest performances ever as the woman who will not rest until vengeance is done. She, literally, becomes a force of nature, and her climactic massacre scene has a rawness and cinematic purity to it that has never been equaled. As her fury rages, so does the weather, and it is as if she has become part of the storm that washes the bloodshed away.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIkeda stages much of the action in uninterrupted shots that elevate the filmu0026#39;s realism.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso stunning is the score.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the 60u0026#39;s and 70u0026#39;s Japanese filmmakers created the u0026quot;pearl diveru0026quot; genre, and this uses that lost genre as its starting point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI can not say enough good things about MERMAID LEGEND. It has haunted me for a decade. It is a gift.”