The Castle of Sand Film Review

A bit of a long-winded Japanese police procedural based on a novel by Seichō Matsumoto. Matsumoto is one of the most prominant Japanese mystery writers with his intricately plotted novels. I have read two of them - this one titled Inspector Imanishi Investigates and Points and Lines, which was also adapted into a film. He wrote some 450 novels. The investigation takes a long time and covers a lot of Japan, but it is the reveal that takes us on a Odyssey like journey.

An elderly man is found murdered near the railroad tracks in Tokyo. The police have little to go on - he met with a younger man in a bar and the waitress only heard one word "Kameda" and that one of them had a regional accent. The dead man has no identity on him. The two investigators, Imanishi (Tetsurō Tamba) and Yoshimura (Kensaku Morita) become nearly obsessed with the case and dig in, refusing to give up. Leads take them all over Japan, but it is one dead end after another. Finally, the identity of the dead man is discovered but he was a Saint by all accounts.

Who would want to kill him? And why was he in Tokyo? They check up on every aspect of his life, but it is blameless. Very frustrating as the two keep thinking they are on to something, but it never is. The viewer gets a feel for how dogged police work is. Nothing comes easy. Finally, a small clue leads them to the byzantine truth and it is rather brilliant. But the explanation to the other police of why he was murdered and by whom is a long long flashback that goes on forever. The movie theater manager is played by Kiyoshi Atsumi (Tora-san).