Tomie (1998)
November 8, 2024 12:41 PM - Subscribe
A traumatized young woman is trying to recover her memories with the help of a psychiatrist. During her hypnosis sessions, she repeats the name "Tomie" but is unable to recall where she knows it from.
Following a trauma in her past that she has repressed, Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) is trying to recover her memories with the help of hypnotherapy. During her hypnosis sessions, she repeats the name "Tomie" and "Tanabe". Meanwhile, a police detective (Tomoro Taguchi) is investigating a string of brutal murders, where he also runs across the name "Tomie."
While this is happening, a young woman named Tomie (Miho Kanno) begins working at a restaurant with Tsukiko's boyfriend. She immediately has a strange effect on her coworkers.
Based on the manga written and illustrated by Junji Ito (who also made the manga Uzumaki), Ataru Oikawa wrote and directed this adaptation and a following film Tomie: Revenge.
Following a trauma in her past that she has repressed, Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) is trying to recover her memories with the help of hypnotherapy. During her hypnosis sessions, she repeats the name "Tomie" and "Tanabe". Meanwhile, a police detective (Tomoro Taguchi) is investigating a string of brutal murders, where he also runs across the name "Tomie."
While this is happening, a young woman named Tomie (Miho Kanno) begins working at a restaurant with Tsukiko's boyfriend. She immediately has a strange effect on her coworkers.
Based on the manga written and illustrated by Junji Ito (who also made the manga Uzumaki), Ataru Oikawa wrote and directed this adaptation and a following film Tomie: Revenge.
Tomie is my favorite Junji Ito project. But the Tomie movies I've seen are so underwhelming that I'm not even totally sure I saw this one; they kind of run together in a disappointing low budget slurry. I think an anthology-style show would be the best way to adapt the Tomie stories, really.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:42 PM on November 8
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:42 PM on November 8
So, hi, in 2022 (which also bled into 2023), I did a massive project about movie adaptations of non-superhero comics that focused on girls and women as the lead characters (I am very specific).
I love Junji Ito. Tomie is not my favorite of his work, although I still like it. I don't think he was trying to say anything that deep with it. There are some things about toxic masculinity (like if they can't have Tomie, no one can) but she's also just a force of nature. She's an immoral evil who just happens to be a young woman.
But you're still reading a comic where a young woman (even if she's an immoral evil force) is being killed a lot in terrible ways. Still, it's Junji Ito so it's vaguely fun. All of this is hard to explain if you haven't read his comics.
It's a vaguely interesting indie movie about some young people living their lives after some aftermath of tragedy, but that's not why we're watching a movie about Tomie. And once we finally get to Tomie (way too late in the movie), it's not that interesting. I liked the actress, but all if it just seemed silly. There was a good story to be told here and this just did not do it.
I didn't manage to watch any of the other Tomie movies because I was lazy. Maybe at some point.
posted by edencosmic at 5:43 PM on November 8
I love Junji Ito. Tomie is not my favorite of his work, although I still like it. I don't think he was trying to say anything that deep with it. There are some things about toxic masculinity (like if they can't have Tomie, no one can) but she's also just a force of nature. She's an immoral evil who just happens to be a young woman.
But you're still reading a comic where a young woman (even if she's an immoral evil force) is being killed a lot in terrible ways. Still, it's Junji Ito so it's vaguely fun. All of this is hard to explain if you haven't read his comics.
It's a vaguely interesting indie movie about some young people living their lives after some aftermath of tragedy, but that's not why we're watching a movie about Tomie. And once we finally get to Tomie (way too late in the movie), it's not that interesting. I liked the actress, but all if it just seemed silly. There was a good story to be told here and this just did not do it.
I didn't manage to watch any of the other Tomie movies because I was lazy. Maybe at some point.
posted by edencosmic at 5:43 PM on November 8
I went into this movie fairly blind. I didn't know about it until it appeared on Shudder this week, and my friend and I, needing a distraction, decided to watch it. I enjoyed it, but I was curious and so I stated reading about the manga and now I really want to read it.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:41 AM on November 9
posted by miss-lapin at 12:41 AM on November 9
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posted by mrphancy at 12:47 PM on November 8 [1 favorite]