The Eel

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival—a prize it shared with Abbas Kiarostami’s TASTE OF CHERRY—this late-career triumph from director Shohei Imamura begins with a shocking act of violence as office worker Takuro Yamashita (the great Koji Yakusho) murders his wife in a jealous rage. But what unfolds after that is a surprisingly contemplative, affecting story of guilt, loneliness, and redemption. Upon his release from prison eight years later, Takuro attempts to restart his life in a small seaside town, accompanied by the only companion he can confide in: a pet eel.

Starring Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baisho