Product Details

• Actors: Tadanobu Asano, Nami Tsukamoto, Kiki (IX), Kazuyoshi Kushida, Lily
• Directors: Shinya Tsukamoto
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (DTS 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Tartan Video
• DVD Release Date: January 24, 2006
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000C65YMQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,345 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Movies & TV > Horror > J-Horror
  #56 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > Asian Cinema > Japan > Drama

• For more information about "Vital" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Hiroshi Takagi returns home to begin his new life after having his memory wiped away in an auto accident. Fascinated by a dusty dissection textbook, he enrolls in medical school where he catches the eye of Izumi, a beautiful fellow student who desires his attention. But its another beauty that becomes his obsessionthe dead woman on the cadaver table. Starting with the tattoo on her arm, patterns of recognition begin to return to Hiroshi and soon he is having visions of a life with this woman. The deeper he cuts into her flesh, the closer he gets to unlocking the dark memories of his forgotten past.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First masterpece of 21 st century japanese cinema, January 25, 2006

By	Milos Tomin (Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The evolution of Shinya Tsukamoto from independent extremism of Tetsuo through his polished and festival acclaimed films like Gemini and A Snake of June, is an incredible phenomenon of a great talent developing right before a film fan's eyes.

Vital, at first glance is a dark and lurid tale of a brilliant young medical student suffering from amnesia after surviving a horrific car crash in which his girlfriend was killed.

After deciding to resume his studies and taking up an anatomy class in which dissection is performed on human cadavers his memories start coming back.
Hypnotized by the strange familiarity of the body before him the tale takes an unexpected twist and this film presents us with questions on the purpose of our bodies, memories and love.

Tadanobu Asano is perfectly cast in the role of the student supported by several other luminaries of current Japanese film industry.

Final revelation about the origin of body should come as no surprise to the attentive viewer but the thoughtful way in which this film deals with some very uncomfortable questions that seem to have been completely banished from the western cinema deserves a serious look even by those who might be put off by the subject matter.

I have never seen a film which completely transforms its story and subject matter from a taboo into bliss.
A cinematic experience to cherish!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound and Moving, June 11, 2006

By	Miguel B. Llora (Bay Point, California USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

From the director of Tetsuo - The Iron Man and A Snake in June comes a deeply challenging psycho drama.

Hiroshi (Tadanobu Asano) is a medical student bothered by memory loss after a road accident that killed his girlfriend Ryoko (Tsukamoto Nami). Coming home to his mom and dad's with his mind a tabula rasa, he exists through the days like a zombie. Finding an old anatomy textbook ignites/sparks his memories of his life as a medical student. Hiroshi recalls his girlfriend and things arduously begin to come back to him. He decides to re-enter medical school and take it from there - this is where the story really begins.

When the body in his dissection class turns out to be Ryoko, Hiroshi begins to unravel the shared past, in a way uncovering the "vitals" and piecing together the story of her death, but really more her life. Hiroshi rapidly regains his memory thereafter and surrounds himself in the escape of vanished love. For all intents and purposes, the viewer is allowed to share in an experience that is both profound and moving.

Miguel Llora

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i liked it!, February 1, 2009

By	ThorBiddlesworth - See all my reviews

amazingly weird. weirdly amazing. i don't think it's exactly "horror." it is different. and for someone who has watched a bagillion movies, watching something different is a delight.

the acting and cinematography are excellent. just don't expect it to be a straight forward story that makes complete sense at the end.