The Neighbor No. Thirteen: Difference between revisions

The Neighbor No. Thirteen
The Neighbor No. Thirteen
	File:TheNeighbourNo13.jpg
Directed by	Yasuo Inoue
Written by	Hajime Kado
Starring	Shido Nakamura; Shun Oguri
Cinematography	Taro Kawazu
Edited by	Urahama Taro; Shôjirô Urahama
Music by	Reiji Kitazato
Distributed by	Media Suits
Release date	28 January 2005;
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

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The Neighbour No. Thirteen (隣人13号, Tonari no hito 13-go, lit. "Neighbour Number 13") is a dark psychological drama, released in December 2005, directed by Yasuo Inoue and written by Hajime Kado, based on Santa Inoue's manga Rinjin 13-gô, with Oguri Shun, Hirofumi Arai and Nakamura Shido in major roles.

Plot

Juzo Murasaki (Oguri Shun) arrives at a work construction area for his new job as a construction worker. To his quiet dismay, his supervising boss is Toru Akai (Hirofumi Arai) who, along with his gang, had made Juzo's life a living hell during their middle school years. Akai however doesn't recognise Juzo.

Juzo becomes more disconcerted when he discovers Akai is living with his wife, Nozomi Akai (Yumi Yoshimura), and their toddler son above Juzo's new apartment. As he struggles to accept those unexpected developments, a mysterious sinister-looking hooded figure appears nearby. When Juzo later has a closer look, half of the man's face is scarred and he calls himself Number 13 (Nakamura Shido).

As Juzo attempts to control his flashbacks and dreams, boss Akai constantly picks on him and other workers including another former middle-school student Seki Hajime (Tomoya Ishii), who ignores Juzo's asocial tendencies by being a friendly face. Meanwhile Akai's wife Nozomi attempts to make friends with Juzo by inviting him into her home and encouraging him to look after her toddler son. One evening she proudly shows Juzo her husband's school photos. Juzo notices the mark X in a gap between students. He suffers an intense flashback, which reveals the cause of his absence that day: Akai and his gang bully Akai in the school's science room until they throw acid at Juzo's face.

At construction site, Seki becomes suspicious of Juzo's increasingly odd behaviour, and goes to Akai with his concerns. Unaware that Number 13 is watching, Seki tries to get Akai's attention, but Akai walks away. Seki becomes aware of Number 13, who immediately kills him. Number 13 haunts Juzo wherever he goes. Meanwhile Arai watches Juzo with growing suspicion as a number of his workers and neighbours disappear without trace.

After finding Nozomi's body in the apartment upstairs with the toddler nowhere in sight, Juzo realises where Number 13 has taken the toddler son to and hurries off to save the boy. Coming home from work, Akai discovers his wife's body and his son gone. He's already guessed Juzo was a former classmate and that he has taken his son to their middle school.

At school, Juzo finds the toddler drowned in a school bathroom and realises Number 13 is out of control. He walks around the school, trying to find Number 13. He comes across Akai, who attacks Juzo while demanding his son back. After a violent confrontation, Juzo—who we realise is Number 13 all along—kneels over Akai on the floor. As he is about to stab Akai's head, Akai desperately shouts: "I'm sorry!" Juzo freezes. The apology splits Juzo's universe into two.

Universe #1: as described above.

Universe #2: in the science room, Juzo rebels against Akai's bullying, which causes Akai to apologise. Juzo later appears in a class photo as a happy-looking middle school student next to Akai and the gang. As an adult, he walks past an apartment block where he and the Akai family lived in Universe #1. Juzo notes construction workers are taking down the apartment-block sign, which suggests the block is slated to be demolished. He spots a dark hooded figure standing in a window. It's Number 13. Juzo looks away as if he doesn't recognise him, and continues walking next to his work friend. It's Akai.

At this point, we viewers realise the events in Universe #1 never took place in Universe #2. Universe #1 is a scenario of what could have been if Juzo hadn't stood up to Akai's bullying in the science room, which could end with having acid thrown at Juzo's face. This would have given birth to Number 13 albeit Universe #1.

Cast

Nakamura Shido as 13-gō / No. 13 (Shido Nakamura)
Oguri Shun as Jūzō Murasaki
Hirofumi Arai as Tōru Akai
Yumi Yoshimura as Nozomi Akai
Tomoya Ishii as Hajime Seki
Takashi Miike as Kaneda (next door neighbour)
Minoru Matsumoto as Shinigami

Remake

James Wong will direct the US remake of the film, which is planned with a 2011 release.^[1]

References

^ James Wong Takes on Bullies via Violence in The Neighbor Number 13

External links

The Neighbor No. Thirteen at IMDb

[1] James Wong Takes on Bullies via Violence in The Neighbor Number 13

[1]

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 == Plot ==
-Juzo Murasaki ([[Oguri Shun]]) arrives at a work construction area to take on his new job as a construction worker. To his quiet dismay, his supervising boss turns out to be Toru Akai ([[Hirofumi Arai]]), who with his gang had made Juzo's middle school life a living hell. Akai, however, doesn't recognise Juzo.
+Juzo Murasaki ([[Oguri Shun]]) arrives at a work construction area for his new job as a construction worker. To his quiet dismay, his supervising boss is Toru Akai ([[Hirofumi Arai]]) who, along with his gang, had made Juzo's life a living hell during their middle school years. Akai however doesn't recognise Juzo.
-Juzo's more disconcerted when he discovers that Akai lives with his wife, Nozomi Akai ([[Yumi Yoshimura]]) and their toddler son above Juzo's new apartment. As Juzo emotionally struggles to handle these unexpected developments, a mysterious and seemingly malicious hooded figure appears. It calls itself Number 13 ([[Nakamura Shido]]).
+Juzo becomes more disconcerted when he discovers Akai is living with his wife, Nozomi Akai ([[Yumi Yoshimura]]), and their toddler son above Juzo's new apartment. As he struggles to accept those unexpected developments, a mysterious sinister-looking hooded figure appears nearby. When Juzo later has a closer look, half of the man's face is scarred and he calls himself Number 13 ([[Nakamura Shido]]).
-As Juzo attempts to control increasing number of flashbacks and a spiral fall into psychological darkness, Akai constantly picks on Juzo and other work colleagues including Seki Hajime ([[Tomoya Ishii]]), a former middle school student who becomes Juzo's casual friend in spite of Juzo's asocial tendencies, at work. Meanwhile Akai's wife, Nozomi, attempts to make friends with Juzo and entrusting the care of her toddler son to Juzo. She proudly shows Juzo her husband's school photos. In one class photo, Juzo's space is marked with an X to show he was absent. Juzo suffers a severe flashback to explain his absence that day: in their school's science room, Akai and his friends have thrown acid at Juzo's face.
+As Juzo attempts to control his flashbacks and dreams, boss Akai constantly picks on him and other workers including another former middle-school student Seki Hajime ([[Tomoya Ishii]]), who ignores Juzo's asocial tendencies by being a friendly face. Meanwhile Akai's wife Nozomi attempts to make friends with Juzo by inviting him into her home and encouraging him to look after her toddler son. One evening she proudly shows Juzo her husband's school photos. Juzo notices the mark X in a gap between students. He suffers an intense flashback, which reveals the cause of his absence that day: Akai and his gang bully Akai in the school's science room until they throw acid at Juzo's face.
-Seki becomes suspicious about Juzo's increasingly odd behaviour and goes to inform Arai at the work site, but Arai dismisses him without giving him a chance to speak. During this incident, Seki doesn't realise he's being watched by Number 13, but as soon as he does, Number 13 kills him. Similar incidents follow, which eventually attracts Juzo and Arai's attention.
+At construction site, Seki becomes suspicious of Juzo's increasingly odd behaviour, and goes to Akai with his concerns. Unaware that Number 13 is watching, Seki tries to get Akai's attention, but Akai walks away. Seki becomes aware of Number 13, who immediately kills him. Number 13 haunts Juzo wherever he goes. Meanwhile Arai watches Juzo with growing suspicion as a number of his workers and neighbours disappear without trace.
-Number 13 takes Nozomi's life and kidnaps her toddler son. After finding their bodies, Juzo knows where Number 13 has disappeared to: the middle school. At the same time Akai, now knowing who Juzo is, discovers his wife's body and his son missing. He also goes to school. Having arrived first, Juzo discovers what happens to the toddler son, whom Number 13 forcibly drowned, and realises it's gone out of control.
+After finding Nozomi's body in the apartment upstairs with the toddler nowhere in sight, Juzo realises where Number 13 has taken the toddler son to and hurries off to save the boy. Coming home from work, Akai discovers his wife's body and his son gone. He's already guessed Juzo was a former classmate and that he has taken his son to their middle school.
-He goes to confront Number 13, but by then, Akai arrives and attacks Juzo whom he believes has his son. After a violent confrontation, Juzo—who we realise is Number 13 all along—kneels over fallen Akai. As he is about to bring down a weapon upon Akai's head, Akai shouts out an apology. Juzo freezes. The apology splits Juzo's universe into two.
+At school, Juzo finds the toddler drowned in a school bathroom and realises Number 13 is out of control. He walks around the school, trying to find Number 13. He comes across Akai, who attacks Juzo while demanding his son back. After a violent confrontation, Juzo—who we realise is Number 13 all along—kneels over Akai on the floor. As he is about to stab Akai's head, Akai desperately shouts: "I'm sorry!" Juzo freezes. The apology splits Juzo's universe into two.
 Universe #1: as described above.
-Universe #2: as middle school boys, Akai apologises after Juzo stood up against Akai's bullying. Soon after, Juzo appears in a class photo as a quiet but happy-looking middle school student. As an adult, he walks past an apartment block where he and the Akai family lived in Universe #1. Juzo notes some construction workers are taking down the block sign, which hints the block is slated to be demolished, then he spots a dark figure in a window. It's Number 13, but Juzo doesn't recognise him as he looks away and continues walking along the side of a man who appears to be Juzo's work friend. It's Arai.
+Universe #2: in the science room, Juzo rebels against Akai's bullying, which causes Akai to apologise. Juzo later appears in a class photo as a happy-looking middle school student next to Akai and the gang. As an adult, he walks past an apartment block where he and the Akai family lived in Universe #1. Juzo notes construction workers are taking down the apartment-block sign, which suggests the block is slated to be demolished. He spots a dark hooded figure standing in a window. It's Number 13. Juzo looks away as if he doesn't recognise him, and continues walking next to his work friend. It's Akai.
-At this point, we viewers realise that the events we saw in Universe #1 never took place in Universe #2. Universe #1 is a scenario of what could have been if Juzo hadn't won Akai's apology after standing up for himself on the day of the ''potential'' acid incident and their school photo session. The acid incident, if Juzo had failed to stand up for himself, could have given birth to Number 13, thus creating Juzo's path to Universe #1.
+At this point, we viewers realise the events in Universe #1 never took place in Universe #2. Universe #1 is a scenario of what could have been if Juzo hadn't stood up to Akai's bullying in the science room, which could end with having acid thrown at Juzo's face. This would have given birth to Number 13 albeit Universe #1.
 == Cast ==