Directed by: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Written by: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Masaharu Fukuyama, Suzu Hirose, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Mikako Ichikawa
Rating: [3.5/5]
Defense attorneys carry such a fascinating job in the legal system where they have to defend their clients to the best of their ability even when they’re undoubtedly guilty. With this potential challenge, having a defendant whose dishonesty even extends to their sole advocate displays what the protagonist of The Third Murder must encounter in this unenviable position. Always keeping you on your toes, this feature sees a director flexing his muscles in a territory he often does not find himself in but excels regardless.
Following a brutal homicide, Tomoaki Shigemori (Masaharu Fukuyama) takes on the case to defend Misumi (Kōji Yakusho), who stands accused of the crime. As Shigemori learns more about the case, the more Misumi begins to change his story. This pushes Shigemori to truly push him for the truth unraveling a sequence of events far less straightforward than he once believed.
Piecing together the truth of what transpires does not necessarily come as a prerequisite for what Shigemori has to do as a defense attorney. All that matters to him comes from building the best defense for his client. This becomes the crux of the issue for him, as he cannot piece anything together as Misumi refuses to stick to a single story during all of the interviews leading up to the trial. This puts him in the place of building a case for defense and then tearing it down because he must navigate consistently with what Misumi would testify when taking the stand. Certainly an aggravating experience for him, but it pushes him to get to the distinct truth of the matter and what we see throughout this journey makes for such a thrilling journey.
Seeing Hirokazu Kore-eda take on a film of this tone came as quite a surprise. While admittedly not having seen all of his films, the several I have watched all carried similarities in working as heartfelt humanist family dramas. Seeing him take the typical warmth of his output and switch over to a cold and bleak courtroom drama made for quite the shift and one that world very well. With a story with so many twists and changes because of Misumi’s refusal to stick to one story, we continue to follow these leads and Kore-eda handles these shifts so well to still make it feel grounded and impactful on each occasion. This distinct coldness is not only in the temperature during some of the scenes as well as when these conversations display a lack of human care between these individuals and more so an obligation of duty. Shigemori must defend this client while Misumi must continue to change his story for purposes revealed later in the film. What a departure but it definitely shows some range on his part as he decides to navigate in this realm.
The search for this truth allows for more dimensionality to be explored by all of the characters, especially in the process of learning more about the victim, his family, and Misumi’s impact based on the actions he claimed he did and then subsequently changing his mind. It provides this insight into Misumi as a person and how he has much more to him than he initially lets on but also displays that cases like this typically go ahead without defense attorneys who do all of the necessary digging in order to really get at what transpired between the indicted and the deceased. Shigemori’s deeper look into what took place completely alters things but shows that any other defense attorney would not have acted in the same way, especially with someone like Misumi as their client. This very much expresses what Kore-eda sought to communicate with this narrative.
Genuinely thrilling and entrancing through its ever-changing narrative, The Third Murder looks like no other Hirokazu Kore-eda film I’ve seen, and this departure in style and tone serves as quite the treat for anyone who watches it. Through the narrative, we get two fascinating characters in Misumi who continues to build layers as he makes us sink into his mindset as well as Shigemori who refuses to let the truth go by him even if not required by the job. Both Kōji Yakusho and Masaharu Fukuyama deliver captivating performances as they navigate us through quite the journey and a case that only gets more fascinating as it goes along.
Films with Josh 
