Original subtitles

Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear at the 49th Berlin Film Festival

Presented by Shochiku Film Co and Kowa International

Planning and Executive Production Hikaru Suzuki and Hajime Yuki

Directed by Yoshimitsu MORITA

The action

of an insane person

is not

punishable.

The action of

a person of diminished capacity

shall lead to

a reduced punishment.

An act of insanity is not punishable.

An act of diminished capacity shall lead to a reduced punishment.

Keiho dai sanjukyu jo

~ ARTICLE 39 ~ (Japanese Penal Code)

What happened? You must be soaked!

What's the job?

I wanted... to ask you...

if you could... help with this case.

The accused's assessment is very difficult.

If I can do it...

Those are the court records.

Please, have a look at them now.

I'm coming...

Crime scene...

You've done your...

Entering...

This one...

Scene is....

Just a little...

But it's strange...

Triangular...

~ Witness Stand ~ (Ticket to the play, 'Witness Stand'.)

Stop denying it to yourself.

Everyone ate.

Using nails, using bones, using teeth.

Coolly... alone.

Maybe.

Not maybe.

I did it.

Say that again.

I did it...

maybe.

After the play closed... on the opening day...

The boss, my friends... we went for a drink.

But you didn't drink.

That's correct.

Then later... at the bar there was a woman serving...

Victim, HATADA Megumi.

I didn't know her name.

She spoke.

Maybe.

Not maybe.

She said something bad.

What?

I'm Osamura, the lawyer appointed by the state to represent you.

How are you feeling?

You sleeping well?

Yes.

They say, when they questioned you, you asked to be put to death.

Yes.

You've been thinking, and you feel sorry for what you did?

Yes.

All right. I'll forget about...

trying to prove that you're innocent.

Still though... even if you die, it won't solve anything.

This is your first offence.

This time... you fell into temptation.

Even if you die, it won't bring the victim back.

I'll do my best.

Capital punishment won't make you a better man.

I want to die.

What was your motive?

Could you really kill someone for something like that?

Do you need a motive... to kill someone?

There was no motive.

Welcome back.

Ah! You startled me.

I just went out to the store.

You're late today.

I've got some new work.

Supper?

I've eaten.

Next time, please phone.

Sorry. Did you wait?

I didn't know when you'd come.

Sorry. I'll eat.

Don't make yourself eat.

Eating again?

You are, aren't you?

Don't make noises when you eat, Mom.

COURTHOUSE

Accused's name?

SHIBATA Masaki.

Date of birth?

20th September, 1966.

How old are you now?

Thirty-one.

Employment?

Actor.

Prosecutor, read out the charge please.

The following is the indictment for which this public hearing has been called...

in Tokyo, 30th June, 1997... in the district of Tokyo.

Prosecutor, KUSAMA Michihiko...

Your Honor,

SHIBATA Masaki, home Niigata Prefecture,

resident in Tokyo at Kitaku, Higashi Jyujo.

Profession - actor.

Prosecution facts:

10 p.m. June 11th, 1997...

accused went with friends to celebrate a play opening.

He argued with a server.

A housewife, of Tokyo, Kita Ward,

HATADA Megumi, of Kopu Umehara, aged at that time 27.

At 11:50 the same night...

he followed the woman home...

and forced his way into her room.

He punched her stomach though she was five months pregnant, injuring her.

He seized the woman's husband,

HATADA Osamu, 31, by the neck...

rendering him unconscious.

To end resistance, he took a carving knife...

and viciously stabbed...

the woman in the stomach,

chest and neck areas killing her.

He then stabbed the husband in the back with the carving knife...

causing a fatal hemorrhage.

The offence and punishment are described in article 199 of the criminal code.

Everything you say, whether beneficial to your case of not...

may be used as evidence.

You don't have to answer.

And by not answering, you will lose nothing.

Are there any errors in the indictment?

You don't have to reply. It's okay not to reply.

Angel or demon, virtue or vice...

I do not know...

You in human form, answer.

Say something.

What does this mean?

Your Honor...

I request a forensic psychiatric report for the accused.

Please, sit down over here.

Uh...You're SHIBATA Masaki aren't you?

Yes.

Hello. I'm Fujishiro. I'm a psychiatrist.

The Judge has requested...

that I prepare a psychiatric report on you.

Please extend your co-operation.

Please, make yourself comfortable.

This is not an investigation.

This is... Ms. Ogawa who will be assisting me with the assessment.

How do you do? I'm OGAWA Kafuka. Pleased to meet you.

Kafuka?

So... we're going to examine your affairs, you see.

I want you to be as specific as possible.

Uh, first, you were born in...

Niigata in Nishi Kubiki county, right?

Yes.

Near the sea.

Your father's name was SHIBATA Toshimitsu.

Do you remember your mother?

No.

You were small when they divorced.

You were brought up by your father?

Yes.

Your father died two years ago of liver cancer.

You nursed him at the end, didn't you?

Yes.

That was at a Tokyo hospital?

Yes.

Close to the time when... you graduated from middle school...

your father suddenly disappeared from your home town.

And then there were...

ten years until you lived together in Tokyo again.

So then, during that time, uh... you were living separately, were you?

Yes.

Where were you and what were you doing?

I was working.

You began working in Tokyo...

three years after you left home.

Those three years are blank.

Where were you?

You remember, don't you?

I understand.

Your father, what kind of man was he?

What kind...?

When you were small, what kind of person was he?

Was he gentle... or was he strict?

I want you to think about it, okay?

I...want to apologize to you.

I understand.

No...

At the beach that time when I buried you...

I'm sorry.

I've made a battery... of ten psychological tests.

There's a deviation of 62: higher than average.

By missing some tasks he can score less than his ability.

Even if he trys, he can't score higher.

Yes.

I had the impression he did it honestly.

When was it... that you first met him?

Excuse me...

When did you meet him?

Two years ago.

He used to come into my part time shop.

Every day he'd order spaghetti and ice tea.

I got to know his face.

Spaghetti and ice tea, that's 850 yen.

Sir...

Are you interested? - What?

Ah... I haven't seen it.

Fortunately we've got tickets.

He saw the play? - Ya.

When we went back together...

a funny thing happened.

"God protects me! Angel or demon..."

He said he didn't know the play...

but he could recite those lines fluently.

"Cry something out, King of Denmark.

"Hamlet, Father!"

"God protects me!

"Angel or demon,

"good or bad, the truth I do not know.

"Because you appear like a man,

"I ask you to reply.

"Well... Cry out something.

"King of Denmark, Hamlet,

"Father!"

Are you listening to me... listen.

That night and the next... you were on the stage?

Doing 'The Witness Stand'?

An interesting subject.

A soldier who has eaten his friend's flesh, is judged.

While you were putting this on... you threw up on stage?

Likely a psychological cause...

a sublimated reaction to some psychological trauma.

The incident and that drama... is there something tying them together?

Try to remember. That night... what happened to you?

"Was there a feeling of love... between the eater and the eaten?

"Was there a feeling of supreme bliss?

"Yes, there was indeed!

"While I ate his flesh...

"I felt supreme bliss.

"Then let the denial stop.

"Everyone ate.

"Using nails, using bones, using teeth...

"coolly."

Who are you?

What?

I'm asking who you are?

Speak! What are you doing?

Shibata!

I'm asking who you are?

Who I am is... SHIBATA Masaki's psychiatric assessor.

Assessor?

And you... who are you?

What are you doing to him?

Nothing. We wanted to see you.

Me?

Won't you sit down?

I'm okay here.

But here is on...

Don't give me orders.

Okay.

Just listen to me.

That night... the person who killed the housewife...

was it SHIBATA Masaki?

That fool wouldn't have the guts.

I'm the one who did it.

You did... Did SHIBATA Masaki send you?

If I'm not there... he can't do a thing.

The one who did this... was that you too?

Although he's the one who started the play...

I helped... a little.

That jerk couldn't even remember his lines.

I had to prompt him all the time.

You know it!

Without me, he couldn't do anything.

What do you... want to do to him?

Kill him.

Let him die and be free.

If that happened... you'd be dead too.

Kafuka! - What?

You're okay.

It's okay.

That guy...

That guy came, didn't he?

That guy... Who is that guy?

The seagull.

That seagull.

THE TRIAL REOPENS

Assessment: The accused is schizophrenic.

He has a personality disorder... generally referred to as 'Split Personality'.

At the time of the criminal incident... he was suffering from this personality disorder.

That means that the accused's mind was in dis-association and so...

he couldn't tell good from bad or control his actions.

The assessor is FUJISHIRO Saneyuku, a doctor with a doctorate in psychology.

I enter into evidence Mr. Fujishiro's assessment.

Prosecutor... anything?

I have no objection.

I intend to call Dr. Fujishiro as a witness.

But I reserve the right to cross-examine the witness.

Cousellor, anything further?

I agree to that.

We'll adjourn and take a break.

Please stand.

Bow.

You've read the report of the previous doctor?

I have.

So what was your reaction?

It's easy to diagnose a multiple personality disorder.

How did you find...

this alternate personality when the other doctor didn't?

A person with multiple personalities...

doesn't change into the alternate persona of his own will.

I see.

So unless the doctor personally intervenes...

the alternate persona won't manifest. Is that correct?

No, it's not.

If the interview goes well...

the alternate persona should be revealed.

The expression changes...

but the fact doesn't.

You want to know... that at the time...

Is that the alternate persona?

No, but the accused is hearing it.

However, while a schizophrenic says the voice comes from outside...

someone suffering from multiple personality disorder says it comes from within.

And that it's a loud voice...

that sometimes directs him or her to violence.

The person by themself, can't ignore the voice.

The accused speaks, but the alternate personality is controlling from within?

That's right.

The symptoms match multiple personality disorder.

A very difficult act...

You have the power to imagine and I to remember.

It's that guy...

It's that guy...?

It's that guy.

You didn't need to come. I spoke to your boss.

I know. I came back again to make sure.

He said that SHIBATA Masaki was buried...

Why go back into that thing?

His hurt feelings then...

might have changed him.

All his father's fault then?

I don't know. Not yet.

His wife left and Toshimitsu drowned his sorrows in sak�.

And then he become violent to the boy...?

Even though Masaki had normally been gentle.

You're saying you saw a change of personality...

to someone who didn't see it.

It's like saying you saw a UFO.

You need to be scientific and less subjective.

Prove it rationally or it means nothing here.

Well, I'll prove it.

This is a contract between a doctor and his patient.

For an agreed time... he agrees not to kill... himself or anyone.

It protects the safety of the assessor.

As per procedure... I got the accused to sign the contract.

I also got the alternate persona to sign it.

This is the accused's... and this is the alternate persona's.

You can see that the handwriting in each case is clearly different.

The accused is right handed.

The alternate persona is left handed.

This difference is characteristic of multiple personality disorders.

Do you see?

According to the postmortem doctor...

the person who stabbed the woman was left handed.

Wait a minute...

He could make contracts but he couldn't take responsibility?

Don't get it wrong.

The alternate persona isn't a person.

He just acts under the illusion that he is one.

He is a jumble of memories, feelings, conflicts, impulses...

It's just one part of a character.

So then... where is the accused?

Who killed the victim?

PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

Excuse me, prosecutor Kusama...

I should have spoken to you sooner.

I'm late saying this.

Okay... go ahead and say it.

Will you withdraw your prosecution?

The assessment's wrong.

What do you mean? You took part in the assessment.

I just collated the data.

The conclusion was soley the Professor's.

I... came to a different conclusion.

So then... what are you saying?

It's likely... that Shibata is just simulating the disorder.

It's faked.

And you have... a basis for that?

During the assessment, the alternate persona throttled me.

The professor says that...

it can kill indiscriminately. It's nothing more than a game to it.

But to me...

I didn't sense a will to kill.

Say that again, please.

I felt no will to kill.

What did you just say?

The court has requested I do a re-assessment.

So... the request came from the prosecutor's office?

Yes. I went to see him.

I'm sorry.

Why be sorry? Opinions differ.

Do as you wish.

Thank you.

Yes.

Mom... How did you get this number.

There's something I've always hidden from you.

I'm busy just now.

Sorry... I'm hanging up.

This is Detective Nagoshi, Metropolitan Police.

Your opinion about the illness being feigned...

We've some difficulties with it.

I'd like you to hear his concerns.

What is it?

Motive.

Lacking an emotional explosion, there is no motive.

With such a violent murder...

Well, there should be some motive.

Typical assessor... If you need a motive, make one up.

Mr. Nagoshi...

HATADA Megumi's husband, HATADA Osamu, at 15 years old...

killed someone in Aichi but was never convicted.

It was tried in family court.

You concealed that?

Everyone knows.

Shibata and Hatada are not connected.

At the time, that guy was already in Niigata.

It's ironic that the male victim also got off on a psychiatric assessment.

Has that case been closed yet.

For me it has.

Isn't an arrest the only thing that can close it.

That's correct.

If you don't close it, the case goes on forever.

Have you found something new?

No, not yet.

Is your assessment still going on even now?

Is it okay? - Sure... please have a seat.

That incident involved primary school girls.

Three in all... with each one the violence escalated.

He killed the third one.

You're from Tokyo...

a woman by yourself.

The victim was KUDO Atsuko... first year primary student. (about 6 years old)

Yes... a child.

The boy who joined the search and discovered the body...

was the girl's brother, then in second year at middle school...

KUDO Keisuke.

He searched all night before he found her.

It was a terrible shock for him.

When the offender was caught he was the same age.

The boy was just a youth.

You have a case here?

You being sarcastic?

I was just asking.

Please excuse me.

I'm sorry for intruding like this.

I'm KUDO Keisuke's case-worker, Iwaki. I handled KUDO Keisuke.

Do you know?

After the incident he changed schools.

I don't know where he went.

It's a small town, you know.

Do you know what school he changed to?

Wait, I'll see.

What am I thinking...?

I remember now. I got a card from him.

You here about that old business?

My husband doesn't have any contact. Not now.

I understand.

My husband doesn't want any contact.

Your husband's family... where are they now?

They're gone now.

The father when he was a child...

the mother... soon after the incident from grief.

Please...

I'm home.

I don't want to think about that any more.

It's painful... but her murderer has now been murdered.

What do you think about that?

Nothing at all.

I've no connection at all.

It's all in the past.

That's right. It's nothing to do with my husband.

Please leave.

We understand.

You wouldn't... have a driver's license... you could show me?

Thank you.

Sorry.

Your old teacher Iwaki was glad to get your card.

Mikako!

Mikako!

If we detectives get all sensitive... what would happen?

Detective... did you have a bad experience with a psychiatric assessor?

No nothing like that.

Even though we get the offenders off after you catch them with great effort...

ours is still a part of the process.

Could you say that in front of Keisuke Kudo.

Sometimes you're quiet.

You're a strange one.

Were you a gentle lover?

Uh...?

I mean with Ophelia.

Hamlet's pretended madness...

didn't it finally drive him mad?

What d'you mean?

Didn't his pretending madness...

cause him to see ghostly illusions...

and then finally... to kill himself out of despair.

Please stop.

What's wrong?

I'm sorry. I'll call the warder.

Please tell me.

This is no assessment!

It is.

Actually... this isn't a psychiatric assessment.

We met, you and I...

and now we are just talking.

Please talk with your own voice.

Let me hear your true voice.

Come.

You're just a slut.

Don't use...

your lewd looks...

on that guy.

What's up?

You have to choke me.

Your filthy breath...

eh... let's fix that.

Let's fix it.

Fix it!

Fix it. - Fix it!

Fix it!

I'm telling you...

Don't... come near me.

Stay away from that guy.

Don't come near.

Are you afraid... of me?

I'm doing the talking here.

Gently, eh?

I'm home.

I'm home.

Come in.

You took Dad's coffee mill out!

It's a pity if it just sits... gathering dust.

Yes.

Mom... Listen to what I've got to say calmly.

You're thinking about Dad, no?

I kept it from you, and that was my fault.

Because I told Dad that I disliked that man...

it caused your father to kill him.

Even though your father worried a lot about him.

Dad certainly remembered that I'd said...

"I dislike him."

"I don't like him."

I've heard that before.

Before? It's the first time I said it.

Yes... yes. It's the first time.

Like that then...

it doesn't mean it was your fault.

It's all right.

Since you can't understand like I can how your father felt.

I can't understand?

Kafuka...

People don't leave us because they die.

They can be much closer after they die.

You're trying to fool me?

You're just acting, Mom.

Aren't you... saying that to keep me here?

Mom... manipulating me like that... you enjoy it, don't you.

Shibata... ten years after leaving Harbortown,

reunited with his father here.

What made young Shibata come back here?

Was he looking for his father from the start...? from the very beginning?

Did you know SHUBATA Toshimitsu?

Well, he was my neighbor, wasn't he?

SHIBATA Masaki came here too?

Ya, he came to Toshi's place.

Who needs a beach house?

When would you find the time to go there anyway?

No Pachinko.

The good fish all goes to Tokyo.

Evening.

Masaki, come in!

Fried chicken... with the good sauce.

Great... I love this sauce.

He was a good son.

Toshi took rooms for a while.

Cause they lived together, see?

Toshi said something funny.

My son's alive, he said.

Alive?

He said, "My son is living."...?

SHIBATA Toshimitsu said that, did he?

Yes.

He thought his son had died.

SHIBATA Masaki had died?

There was no death notice.

But that doesn't prove he was alive. So was he alive?

Detective... does that mean it's a different person with memories of seagulls?

Don't jump to conclusions.

SHIBATA Masaki.

Born 20th of September, 1966.

Niigata Prefecture, West Kubiki County,

Nou Town, Tsutsuishi.

Father, SHIBATA Toshimitsu.

Mother left.

Only child.

Played alone.

Don't move yet.

Don't move.

You okay?

Yup.

You okay to go home alone?

Yup.

What's that?

"Long ago my father killed someone."

Long ago... my father killed someone.

He was a gentle father. He taught at the high school.

He named me.

He was drinking.

Dad got into an argument with another teacher...

who was making a scene.

Next morning... the police waited outside...

so that Mom and I wouldn't see.

But by chance we witnessed the arrest.

He looked at us with such sadness on his face...

and then ran into the road... and a car...

Even now I can't forget it.

I can't take it in.

Why did Dad run away?

Why did he run from his crime?

I can't get it out of my mind...

Because I respected him.

I love him.

I wonder... if that's why I majored in psychology.

Till now...

I haven't been able to understand what he was feeling at that moment.

If... I could I'd be able to accept it.

This was my father's pen.

I always use it for assessments.

You're the first person... I've told about it.

It was a good story.

Invented... but I felt tears.

Invented?

What else then?

Sorry.

It was a lie.

I'm not supposed to tell lies.

Then why did you do it?

You know why we do such things?

Hello.

Hello.

See over there, it's full of beetles.

Want to come?

Uh...?

Let's go.

These are for Atsuko.

Thank you.

I'm back.

Welcome. Aren't you a bit late?

Yeah.

Atsuko? - Yeah...?

Isn't she with you?

Keisuke... What wrong?

I assess the accused...

as having Dramatic Amnesia, also called...

Hollywood Amnesia.

I'll ask you frankly...

This "dramatic amnesia"...

What on earth is it?

Sudden loss of memory.

Sometimes... it's pretending amnesia about one's life history.

Pretended illness.

It's a pretend illness? Pretend illness...

Well then, I shall ask the assessor...

about events at the time of the crime, is the accused faking amnesia?

That's right.

What do you base this on?

Assessor, your assessment is subjective, and has absolutely no basis in court.

This diagnostic record consists of your talking...

and the accused's reaction.

You call this an assessment?

The conclusion is consistent... with the data.

With the data...?

I met with the accused...

and wrote what I understood.

Well...just wrote it down.

So...there's nothing to say.

Your honor!

An opinion has come from Fujishiro about Ogawa's assessment.

I submit it for the next session.

I'll call Fujishiro as a witness.

Prosecutor, any objection?

I've no objection.

That settles nothing.

You made a bad impression before the judge.

Backing the data up is everything in court.

The offender can give opinions...

to refute the assessment.

But the assessor's not allowed opinions.

A expert witness could easily break down your assessment.

You're getting conceited.

Maybe that's so, but...

Still... somebocy has to stop him.

Has there been nothing from Nagoshi?

If it stays like this... I've got a request.

This is a psychological test called the Baum test.

This is the accused's drawing of a tree.

The person who obtaied this data was in fact my assistant, assessor Ogawa.

A normal person when asked to draw a tree...

draws one tree.

When someone draws a number of trees...

it shows they have a multiple personality.

Couldn't it be a coincidence.

One projects oneself into the pictures one draws.

A coincidence is unlikely.

Look at this tree carefully please.

It's as if the accused were floating in the air...

and looking down from above.

This shows a great gap between the observing self and the objective self.

It can be seen that the accused's unusual symptoms...

are not made up.

But are naturally occurring and genuine symptoms of the disorder.

As the testing assessor, how do you interpret the pictures?

I think they're perfect.

So you're saying it shows perfectly that he was... insane.

I mean the picture was perfectly made to try and show he was insane.

From his scholastic and employment record, is that possible?

He's very intelligent.

Is there any evidence that the accused has read... any psychiatric texts?

No.

Without obtaining this information...

can this be explained by high intelligence alone?

There are long periods...

of the accused past during which no one knows... what he was doing.

Surely that means that you don't know either?

That's correct.

I conclude.

Let me know when you're done.

Witness stand down.

Your Honor...

What is it?

May I ask a question?

What is it?

Do you understand? Have you understood anything of this assessment?

What's your question?

I don't understand.

I can't begin to understand what motivated the accused.

This psychiatric assessment is no help. What motivated the accused's actions?

I can't understand from the data that we've been given.

In Japan, I believe...

that this is the first hearing involving a multiple personality case.

What is it you want?

I request an assessment in open court...

to clarify which parts the judge considers eligible as evidence.

I can't agree to that.

Do you object to the request?

Of course!

What about the accused's human rights?

I...

What do you wish to say, go ahead please.

I agree to it.

This hearing has been going on without me.

I'm sane.

Be quiet! What are...

Counsellor, be silent.

We'll hear the accused's view.

I'm no multiple personality.

Moreover, I'd like to be... executed quickly.

Just listen to the accused's statement.

The very fact he speaks like this... shows he's deranged.

He just thinks he's not.

Counsellor, avoid stating personal opinions.

Very well. I'll admit the request.

How much longer will this go on?

Nothing is finished yet.

Aren't you... supporting the accused too much?

To me your opposite behaviour is a 'reaction formation'.

Then, in that case, the result should be good for the accused.

Because that's your way of loving, isn't it?

Do you really think that?

I'm worried about you. I'm extremely worried.

You have the ability to be a fine assessor.

I don't want to see it wasted.

When did you go from doctor to assessor?

How can you ask me that?

A doctor and an assessor approach cases in different ways.

Of course.

An assessor just demonstrates if they're guilty or not.

You diagnose their illness... but you can't ensure they get proper care.

Was the victim in this case given enough help in the past?

I rather doubt it.

Is it the law you're trying to assess then?

No.

I want to confront Shibata before the law.

What is it?

You're not SHIBATA Masaki.

Then who am I?

KUDO Keisuke.

KUDO Keisuke?

Hatada killed KUDO Keisuke's sister.

A motiveless murder.

That was your object.

You needed to change your identity.

You looked for someone who'd sell their identity...

and met SHIBATA Toshimitsu.

You passed yourself off... as his son.

SHIBATA Masaki's identity...

suited you just fine.

The real SHIBATA Masaki had died.

You knew that...

but convinced Toshimitsu his son was alive.

Of course... there's no proof.

Toshimitsu is dead now, and it will remain a mystery.

The wife and the KUDO Keisuke you set up...

are very much alive.

That's not the truth.

So then... what is the truth?

I don't know.

No, you know.

The truth about you...

is that you were the first to discover your sister's body.

Throttled to death... bleeding from her private parts.

Her hand cut off at the wrist.

The person who cut off that hand,

masturbated with it in his room.

He escaped justice in court,

and swaggered about scornfully.

He went to university... got work... got married.

He escaped his crime... but you couldn't...

nor could your sister.

He built a bright life.

In complete contrast to you.

Blatant injustice.

Truly, you writhed in agony knowing that injustice.

Eh, Shibata.

Doesn't that about sum it up?

You killed Hatada's innocent wife.

What greater revenge is there?

"Big brother is my Papa."

The court has decided on a judgement of no punishment.

None? - Yes.

He was mentally ill.

The Court will put him in an institution.

Won't he be punished?

Shouldn't he die?

Acording to the law it wasn't his fault.

He's only 15. He can't be executed.

I know your feelings.

But as he gets better, if guilt grows...

Why not execute him! Why protect him?

Think of it as an accident.

An accident.

Your sister would want that.

This... compensation... is to express his parents' sympathy.

Why...

Why don't they say it to our faces?

Everyone involved in this case is in some way a victim.

So... please understand.

Go away.

Get out!

Okay... I understand...Do as you like.

Shibata... you like plays, don't you?

You should have stuck to plays... and stayed away from killing.

I think so too.

This is KUDO... Keisuke's notebook.

Notebook?

I took it from Mikako.

She'll be searching desperately for me.

I'm not Kudo! I am not the one who wrote this.

Mikako... really loves the real KUDO Keisuke...

SHIBATA Masaki.

His sister's death started all this.

Kudo and Mikako's lives were destroyed by her murder.

Mikako will do anything... to help Kudo.

When I hold her, I'm a stranger and she's always watching me.

Please! Please help that woman.

Let her have Kudo back.

I beg you. I beg you!

You've even got a room ready for me.

Mikako.

KUDO Mikako. She's your woman.

Wife?

Sunaoka... no...

KUDO Keisuke.

The condition for marrying her is to give me your identity.

But... if I don't want to?

I'll tell the debt collector.

What if I don't like her?

Tomorrow you two register.

How can you want that?

Discuss the future with her.

Just a minute, Mr. Kudo.

Ahh... that's right.

So what am I going to call you from now on?

We won't meet.

What's he thinking about? Come on!

He didn't need to do that.

Stay in there. I'll stay in a separate room.

Please look after me.

Because he's feeling pain.

Before you're hurt you're ordered to hurt someone.

When I'm hurt...

that guy appears and tells me to kill.

If you resist?

Mom...

What?

There's something I've hidden from you.

You should know... I also told Dad...

that I disliked that man.

I've been blaming myself.

Making believe he wasn't my real father... thinking that would help.

But... now I know that was wrong.

You've been thinking the same as me.

I've been thinking... the same thing.

No matter what happened...

there was one thing I wanted to go on believing.

Dad didn't run away from his guilt.

He punished himself... for his own crime.

I never want to... doubt that thought.

I'm glad.

Thanks.

Mom... there's rice on your face.

PUBLIC HEARING

Swear in the witness, please.

I can't.

I'm not a witness.

I'm the accused's psychiatric assessor.

As an assessor, I may need to say things which are not fact.

I may have to say some untruth.

Using only facts... it may not be possible to expose the true person.

That's what an assessment is.

I understand.

Our purpose is to investigate the accused's mental state...

at the time of the crime.

As it won't be admissable as evidence...

we won't allow objections... while the assessment is ongoing.

All right?

Yes.

Counsellor, agreed?

We agree.

Prosecutor, agreed?

Agreed.

Accused, come forward.

Assessor, please begin.

Before I start... I'd like to hand over these.

Please ensure... that they remain sealed until the assessment is complete.

With that I'll start.

Have you ever loved someone?

If you do something wrong and there is no resistance...

the victim doesn't resist your force...

Do you know that way of loving?

I don't understand what you said at all.

This is a made up story.

Think of it as... one of the dramas you like.

Two people went to see a man.

A man...

Which man?

In the past he had committed a crime.

But... the court... had waived his guilt.

They hesitated, but to go on with life, they took a chance.

Further... the court had said that the man...

could redeem the evil he had done.

And that they should treat his crime as an accident.

Hatada OSAMU... was given early release...

he got out long ago.

You mean he's healed?

Yes.

When?

February 10th, 1982.

He was in here for 6 months.

Where. Where did he go?

It's against the rules to release that information.

Hey...!

That's out of bounds.

Entry's restricted.

What have you got? Eh...

Now... I'll ask you some questions.

What was it, that got you into plays?

I liked being on the stage.

At the time... didn't the seagull say anything?

That guy... was laughing.

In which way?

It echoed loudly in my ears.

The seagull... is really inside you, isn't it?

It feels like that.

Has the seagull told you to stop?

He said we should try.

Then that guy... began to cooperate, to manipulate me.

(Script of her questions and the predicted answers.)

Did the seagull cooperate with you?

Did the seagull... cooperate with you?

Because that guy... always got to taste my pain.

Why's that?

Because... I'm weak.

Because I'm weak.

Because when I'm hurt... that guy feels the pain.

So then... before you are hurt...

he orders you to hurt someone, doesn't he?

Whenever someone upsets me... that guy always shows up.

Tells me to kill.

And if you resist, what then?

And if you resist, what then?

I can't remember.

That guy punishes me.

He uses my body... to do terrible things with impunity.

Why... do you want to be executed?

Your Honor, I object to this assessment.

The assessor is trying to trick the accused,

and lead us to a completely biased conclusion.

Your Honour... that's pure assumption.

The Counsellor's objection is a blatant attempt to influence the accused.

Objection overruled. Assessor please continue.

Why... are you seeking execution?

Answer please.

In this hearing... instead of judging you, shouldn't they judge the seagull?

Your Honor! This is for the court to decide.

Shut up and sit down.

No one can judge that guy.

He's the devil.

He wants me dead.

No... in truth... it's you who's been using the seagull.

Please stop. You're trying to confuse me.

Let's hear your real voice.

Show yourself KUDO Keisuke.

Stab... me.

Stab... me.

Stab her... Stab and kill her.

What about his human rights?

Your honor, this hearing... violates his human rights.

You know it does!

Counsellor, be quiet.

With that... I conclude.

Can we open the envelopes?

Please.

It's a script of the questioning I just carried out.

I wrote it earlier... assuming the accused's replies.

It matches well, because the accused had already...

practiced it in his mind.

But as we progressed, the accused began to realize.

I simply used... clinical examples of split personality...

and wrote questions and answers.

You can be sure the text I used anyone can get.

Anyone could have written this scenerio.

But... presenting it takes...

a lot of practice and energy.

However... during the scenario the accused...

made a big error.

He didn't kill me.

As before, he was benign.

The accused... always hesitates to do something he knows is wrong.

Could he... really have committed this crime?

I asked myself... Could he really kill a pregnant woman?

I just couldn't believe it.

One other thing.

Another mistake.

It's this.

The accused just now... held this in his right hand.

Therefore... the accused's split identity condition... must have been faked.

He could tell the right and wrong of his actions.

He had not lost the mental ability to control his actions.

He was responsible for his actions.

However, what the accused saw... what he felt...

what he thought and how he lived...

who he loved, how deeply...

and... why he acted out this illness...

why he carried out this crime... I cannot assess.

Your Honor...

the assessment is supported with data that was clearly demonstrated.

The following is my subjective opinion.

Declaring the accused not guilty under section 39 of the penal code...

would not protect the accused's human rights... but violate them.

Delete that last statement from the record.

Assessor, stand down.

Judge, I protest Ogawa's assessment.

I seek counter questioning.

It's all right, councellor.

You've done well for me, councellor. Thank you.

Professor Fujishiro's assessment... was everything that I'd hoped for.

But...

OGAWA Kafuka...

I had not counted on you.

An opponent... completely unexpected.

Penal code article 39...

An act of insanity is not punishable.

An act of diminished capacity shall lead to a reduced punishment.

I stabbed my weapon... at this unjust law.

Accused, Shibata... be careful what you say.

Your Honor...

I am KUDO Keisuke.

Your Honour... Concerning the facts of this case,

inconsistencies in identity and factual errors have been admitted.

I seek amendment of the indictment and a new hearing.

The Prosecutor's request is adopted. Court is adjourned for the day.

The accused KUDO Keisuke...

with the removal of article 39 of the penal code from the hearing...

at last became a real human being.

The hearing is presently ongoing.

It's likely to be drawn out.

English subtitles extensively rewritten and retimed by salmond. Translation help by Keiko Mima and Yuko W.

Directed by Yoshimitsu MORITA