Violence at Noon (白昼の通り魔)

SHOCHIKU CO., LTD.

Production SOZOSHA Distributed by SHOCHIKU CO., LTD.

VIOLENCE AT NOON

Produced by MASAYUKI NAKAJIMA

From the Novel by TAIJUN TAKEDA Screenplay by TAKESHI TAMURA

Cinematography by AKIRA TAKADA

Music by HIKARU HAYASHI

Cast

SAEDA KAWAGUCHI AKIKO KOYAMA

KEI SATO ROKKO TOURA

FUMIO WATANABE TAIJI TONOYAMA, TERUKO KISHI

Directed by NAGISA OSHIMA

VIOLENCE AT NOON

Do Mi So

A farewell

Through the faraway night fog

The brave man is leaving

Why, you're -

Eisuke!

Why are you here? What for?

What for?

How did you know I was here?

I checked.

I came to see you.

You're lying.

Where have you been for the past year?

Give me some water.

I'm glad you can work here.

I'm able to send money home and plan for my future.

You stink. Are you drunk?

Seems you haven't straightened out. I don't like it.

If I straightened out, would you love me?

Eisuke, go back to Mrs. Kura. She's your wife.

Can we talk?

It isn't right to leave her and wander around.

I want to talk.

Let me in. - No. It isn't my house.

Shino, why are you acting so distant?

I saved your life.

I'm like God to you.

Some God! Look what you did to me.

You know,

I can still recall how you tasted then.

I can't forget it.

That's why I risked coming here.

Risked?

Look.

Eisuke!

Now you get it, eh?

An unwavering vow

Deep in my heart

For the light of my country

I will fight

Enough.

Brave young man

The golden light

Burning brightly

Will never go out

Finished?

This reflection

will be our first and last.

Don't look.

Shino...

VIOLENCE AT NOON

He put on your clothes when he fled the scene.

Tell us what was stolen.

He can take my clothes. I don't care!

Take them.

It will help us catch the attacker.

The attacker?

Yes. The high-noon attacker. Please tell us.

Well?

What color?

I don't know.

They all look alike.

Ask Shino, the maid.

She was also a victim.

- Murdered? - No.

She was unconscious.

Madam! Why did you have to die?

Forgive me. It should have been me.

A gray pinstripe suit.

Sure?

Yes. I remember because I spilled sauce on it.

Red pinstripes?

Dark red pinstripes.

Sorry.

Did it hurt?

I don't know what I'm doing.

Was it really the high-noon attacker?

So far, it's the same method.

Maybe it was someone else.

I don't think so.

You're the only witness.

If you describe him, we can create a clear profile.

He was about 5'8".

Strong.

Long face, square jaw. One eye had a double lid.

It was his right eye.

Is he the high-noon attacker?

You can bet on it.

He's done it four times this month. Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Okayama, Hyogo.

This is his 11th reported crime.

There are probably more cases that have gone unreported.

This is the worst. It's his first murder.

MA'AM

EISUKE IS THE HIGH-NOON ATTACKER

YOUR HUSBAND IS THE HIGH-NOON ATTACKER

Shino, you should have screamed so Setsuko would know.

After he took you upstairs, she called for you.

He heard her. That's why he came down with the knife.

Shino.

Did he come in you? Did he orgasm?

That's why he went after my wife.

But Setsuko, she wasn't that sort of woman.

She resisted desperately, risking her life.

Risking her life.

Sir, I'll resign after the funeral.

Ma'am!

You're heavy! How much do you weigh?

TO MRS. MATSUKO KURA FROM SHINO

EISUKE IS THE HIGH-NOON ATTACKER

WILL YOU ALLOW ME TO REPORT HIS NAME TO THE POLICE?

- Thank you. - Mom, I'll take some incense.

Incense? Has someone died?

It's just a visit.

You, to the graveyard? You don't even believe.

How much?

Matsuko, you look pale.

Forget your shiftless husband and come home.

Genji,

GENJI HYUGA it was well that you died young.

I envy you.

HONORARY VILLAGE ASSEMBLYMAN I wonder where we went wrong.

It's too late for tears.

It's water over the dam.

Couldn't help it. You did what you wanted.

Yes. I loved Eisuke.

I still do, even though he's the high-noon attacker.

But I still wonder if there might have been another way.

There wasn't.

I came to like Shino, and you loved Eisuke.

That started it.

That's not true.

It started before that when we all drifted apart.

I wonder which was first.

We were so close for so long.

We spent money together.

We had all of 46 hogs and 250 chickens.

Then the pen was swept away by the flood.

So were the hogs and chickens.

Our pen damaged other rice paddies in the village.

There was a big fuss about it.

You got hell from your dad who was the village head.

You weakened,

but you hid it.

We need more spirit.

We need to work together.

We don't need spirit. We need money first.

Ask the village head.

Don't mention Father. He wanted to come here and preach.

Have some pork and think it over.

Fool! You took my hogs?

They were killed by the flood.

Eisuke, you took the dead hogs to town and sold them?

Yeah, that's how it was.

Thief! You lowdown bum!

Thief?

Hit me or kick me then.

Go on.

I had no money to invest. I shoveled hog dung.

I sold the dead pigs to earn some money. That makes me a thief?

- You are a thief! - Am I?

Then hit me again.

Stop!

You can't hit me, huh?

We should work together. Isn't that right?

Love seeks no reward.

Don't expect a reward when you love someone.

Eisuke!

Eat and drink to forget the pig pen.

Where did you get that?

I stole it.

Genji was having a party with the village assembly.

I stole it then.

He'll be a village assemblyman.

Assemblyman?

Then he won't come here anymore?

Never mind. Let's eat and drink.

Eisuke, come and join us.

I haven't changed in three days. I smell.

Times are tough for you.

I go where the seasons take me.

I just work for others.

A toast.

Let's drink to this:

Love seeks no reward.

Eisuke, I hope you understand that.

Yeah.

You understand?