Original subtitles

Here she comes now.

Charged with murdering her husband‐‐

Fujiko Uehara is being taken to the Tokyo Prosecutor's Office.

She is a suspect in other murders as well.

The victim, Yoshioka...

two murders in Akasaka...

the murder of a former classmate...

found strangled...

a series of murders five years ago.

giving rise to a vast boom in so‐called "Fujiko Books"...

Her other crimes now total 15...

Death!

Fujiko Uehara has been sentenced to death!

Hey, Takamine.

This was addressed to us‐‐

but it's for you.

What is it?

A biography of Fujiko the Killer.

Sent by Sakiko Uehara, who was found dead by her own hand three days ago.

Fujiko's daughter. Quite something, huh?

And there was a letter to you.

Please publish this.

It'd sell as a book.

You write it.

It's addressed to "Takamine, the prize‐winning journalist".

No, it isn't.

I'm being sarcastic.

You haven't written anything spicy since you won that prize.

Here's your chance.

It's pure gold.

I'm sorry‐‐

but I won the prize for writing about the victims.

I want to speak for them.

I can't write from her point of view.

But in one sense‐‐

isn't Sakiko Uehara a victim, too?

Look.

No one's written a book from her family's side.

Look at it! It's perfect for the cover.

Maybe it's pressure from Sakiko's "Water of Heaven" sect‐‐

but her family's a mystery.

So by hook or by crook, go get the story.

It's all yours‐‐

prize‐winner.

Tokyo Detention House

Sorry.

How do you do.

I'm Fujiko Uehara.

Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview.

Your daughter Sakiko Uehara‐‐

sent us this manuscript a few days ago.

We'd like to publish a book‐‐

based on your biography as it is here.

I'm in charge of the project.

I'm Michiko Takamine, from Shungei Publishing.

So‐‐

what picture?

Picture?

On the cover.

The one you want to use for the cover.

Oh, I'm sorry.

We still need to check if this is all right‐‐

but we're thinking of a family portrait.

Family, huh?

What the hell.

I'd like to verify some things in this manuscript‐‐

and get your comments...

I have no comments.

I don't want to see Sakiko spin this her own way in a book.

To be honest, I don't think it's just spin.

I haven't seen this much about you‐‐

published anywhere else.

She's brought together her own memories‐‐

the testimony of relatives, and the trial record.

But the manuscript begins‐‐

with something very unusual.

First, would you know this song?

♪ I am but a wax doll, I'm a sawdust doll ♪ ♪

A French song.

Those aren't the words.

♪ I am just a dreaming doll, a dreaming doll of song ♪

♪ Looking at the world through glasses ♪

♪ Tinted the color of rose ♪ ♪

Gym clothes.

They smell like old rags.

Aren't they dry?

Sorry.

I've got phys‐ed in 4th period.

I have it 3rd period.

I'll bring you these afterward.

Sakiko‐‐

get our lunch money, OK? The kids are picking on me!

I know.

Um‐‐

excuse me.

We have to take our lunch money today.

Lunch money!

I'm sorry, Miyako.

Stupid!

Stupid! Stupid!

I hate you!

I'm not pretty.

I'm not good at sports.

If I grow up the way I am, my life won't be worth anything.

Let's try hard this week, all right?

Yeah.

Now let's collect lunch money.

Bring it here.

Hurry it up!

No talking!

Run!

Go go go! That's it!

Your envelope was empty.

You're late!

Quick!

Could you skip phys‐ed today, Miyako?

I've been chosen for the relay. I can't let everyone down.

I've only got this thin blouse. I need to wear the gym shirt, too.

That's your problem!

Everyone else has paid!

Everyone's making fun of me because of you!

I'm the one who wants to cry!

The answer is 27 square centimeters.

The area of a triangle is one half the base times the height.

Remember the formula.

Pay attention. It'll be on the test.

Hey!

What are you hiding?

Don't!

You can see right through it!

You can see her tits!

A see‐through! Tits!

Tits!

Tits!

Tits!

Tits!

Hey!

Cut that out!

Leave her alone!

Sir! Uehara's peeing!

Somebody get a cloth!

Sir! Don't use mine!

Sorry.

Or mine!

Get back there!

Yuck!

I don't want to eat in here!

All right!

Wipe that up.

Yes, sir.

All of you, sit down!

Back to your places!

You've only got one gym suit?

Your family isn't poor, is it?

I don't know.

And you're late with your lunch money.

Stop being silly.

Cheer up.

Sakiko really dug into it, didn't she.

Those were bad times.

Yes.

This pretends to be about you, but it's really about her.

It says it's a biography of you‐‐

but it starts with Sakiko's childhood.

I'll be going, then.

Come back when you have anything new.

I will. Thank you!

My nose points to the right!

This damn nose!

Um‐‐

What?

Lunch money.

I gave it to you.

No, you didn't.

Damn you!

It's always "money, money"!

Why should I pay to feed you?!

And your clothes are filthy!

Don't look at me like that!

You're a little bitch!

What's your problem?!

Don't!

What?!

Shut up shut up shut up!

I hate you!

Wait.

You're saying that?

If it's true.

Not her face!

I never hit her in the face.

Don't say I did.

If you're going to blow things up, I'm going to shut up.

I'm done.

I'm not going to do that.

But even if you didn't‐‐

do you remember starving her and physically abusing her?

No, I don't!

It was years ago.

Would you forget something like that?

Look, any woman‐‐

worries about her weight, no matter what anyone else says.

You eat dessert and you think you've committed a crime.

For the cover picture‐‐

can you get one when I was younger?

When I was about 20, when I was at my best.

If I grow up the way I am...

little sister was murdered...

Despair

You're working hard.

Hi.

You don't look good. You must be really tired.

Kind of.

She just slides around everything. Who can figure out a murderer?

I know it's tough‐‐

but you need to keep your distance when you're interviewing.

"Distance"?

Michiko‐‐

is this about a murderer, or is it about Fujiko Uehara?

I realize what's in the manuscript is important‐‐

but try just talking to her.

Miyako, come in here.

OK.

Ain't she cute! She looks like you, boss.

Look how my wife's dressed her! What an idiot!

She looks great!

When do we go to the photographer's?

At 7. Hold your horses.

We'll take it quick‐‐

and go for a drink!

Who wants to get drunk?

Drink! Drink!

Eat up!

♪ Tinted the color of rose ♪ ♪

Do that.

Stand up.

And the dress suits you.

You're looking at that lunch money envelope.

After I put you in that dress!

That look again.

I hate you!

You always give me that look!

You're horrible!

Well! Don't you all look nice!

You're all going out?

Yes!

Today's my husband's birthday.

We've rented the restaurant. Drop by if you like.

I'll tell everyone, then.

See you later!

Aren't you cute!

Today's my husband's birthday.

Come for a drink.

Thank you.

See you later!

They look like they should be carrying sandwich boards!

I guess she won money at pachinko.

His company's been sinking for ages.

That hussy and her plastic surgery! She looks awful!

Look there.

Doesn't Fujiko remind you of her?

I thought so!

Let's report her.

Oh, dear! She doesn't look that much like her!

Say too much and you might get killed, too!

Oh, stop it!

Aren't they beautiful!

Like little dolls!

All right, one more. This is the real one.

Ready?

Drink up! Drink up!

Cheers!

Honey, say "ah"!

Great!

They're late.

Yeah.

I'm hungry.

Let's go to bed, Miyako.

When you go to sleep, you can forget everything.

Knock it back!

Tomorrow it's meatballs and pudding at school.

I can hardly wait!

5th Grade girls don't eat pudding any more.

Why not?

It's not cool.

Let's get to sleep.

I'm too hungry to sleep.

♪ I am but a wax doll, I'm a sawdust doll ♪

♪ My heart is engraved in my song ♪

♪ I am but a wax doll, I'm a sawdust doll ♪ ♪

More champagne!

Who goes next?

Who wants to have my pudding?

Let's do "rock, paper" for it.

You can have mine, too!

There's someone eating here who hasn't paid her lunch money!

Give it back!

There's a girl eating pudding!

Stop it!

Wait! Don't!

Three‐‐

two, one‐‐

bam!

Hello.

The make‐up lady.

Isn't that nice!

You always take a family picture.

What's inside that doll?

Is it wax?

Probably sawdust.

It's nice.

You poor thing! Your lips are so dry.

Doesn't that smell nice? It's rosemary.

Take it.

I can't afford it.

That's all right. It's a sample.

A child shouldn't be worrying about money.

You'd better get home. Your mother will be worried.

Oh, it's just you.

Sorry. These are so good I couldn't resist.

That's OK.

Miyako‐‐

look!

Where did you get that?

The make‐up lady gave it to me.

Can you eat it?

You put it on your lips, so maybe you can.

I'll try it first.

Well?

Sakiko.

I'm sorry!

How much do you think that costs?

Make‐up?

Are you after some boy?

Give me that.

No!

There's no business for us there!

Get me a beer!

Get it yourself!

Go out and buy some!

Who are you talking to?!

Stop it! I just went to the beauty parlor!

For that fake face?

Wasting money again!

Let go! You'll wreck it!

What do you think you're doing?!

I'll get something done that costs even more!

What are you looking at?

You're just as bad as your damn mother!

Your life won't be anything to look forward to.

Just like her.

Enough.

That's enough.

What?

What?!

You're an asshole. Shut up and go away!

Hey.

Wake up.

Why does despair come to me?

What brings despair with it when it comes?

Perhaps‐‐

dreams are its prey.

Or maybe hope.

"In that case‐‐

"without dreams or hope, there is no despair.

"Without despair, there is no need to be saved."

Sakiko says that whenever she was being hit‐‐

those were the words that echoed in her head.

That's not what a 10 year‐old should be thinking, is it.

Well, she always thought she was the literary type.

I don't mean that.

But I do remember back then.

She always figured I'd stop. I always spared her when she cried.

"Spared her"?

Since when does a parent decide to "spare" a child?

That's how it is.

No!

Yes, it is!

The parent decides it all!

Even life or death.

The parent decides if the child lives or dies. That's the way it is!

I wasn't spared.

She tried to kill me.

You remember that clearly?

Yes.

The murders of a family in Nakatsu.

In 1977‐‐

38 years ago, on Monday, September 26th.

Fujiko Morisawa, as she was then, was only 10 years old.

Tragedy visited the girl's home.

The "Nakatsu family murders" in Nakatsu Ward‐‐

took place in broad daylight.

Police investigators said the family's apartment‐‐

was a scene straight out of hell.

I've cleaned it and cleaned it.

No one's ever going to rent this place again.

Come in.

A neighbor had called the police.

Mr Morisawa?!

The bodies of Fujiko's mother, father, and younger sister‐‐

had been dismembered and scattered around.

Fujiko was found stabbed in the neck‐‐

holding the head of her mother‐‐

but she was still alive.

Outside of one angry shriek, nothing had been seen or heard.

The Statute of Limitations expired with the crime unsolved.

Why did only Fujiko survive?

Did she start talking about that?

The official report‐‐

said she was too much in shock to give reliable testimony.

But she does remember her mother trying to kill her.

I can't imagine why‐‐

whoever did it spared only Fujiko.

She could have identified the killer.

So you mean to say...

Fujiko was trying to kill the family, and her mother fought back.

Think of it that way, and a lot of things make sense.

That's it, Takamine!

I think our big theme here‐‐

is the Nakatsu family murders.

What?

Move the focus from the family back to Fujiko?

Yeah.

Yes, but now‐‐

it's the murderer who killed her own family.

If your guess is right, that's a great scoop!

How do you do.

I phoned the other day. My name is Michiko Takamine.

I'm Shigeko Shimoda, Fujiko's aunt.

Come in.

That girl has caused trouble for so many people.

How will she ever make amends for that?

I'm well aware this is an unpleasant memory‐‐

but I'd like to ask you about the Nakatsu family murders.

If I may...

Did Sakiko write this?

Yes.

She's written in great detail‐‐

but nothing about Nakatsu.

Water of Heaven

Is it true that Fujiko doesn't remember it?

Yes.

She seems to have almost no memory of it.

What I want to ask is one thing.

Is it possible that Fujiko was the Nakatsu killer?

What are you saying?!

She almost died!

She was only ten!

If that's the case‐‐

nothing about Fujiko makes sense.

I'm sorry.

So am I.

To a member of the general public, what she did was an outrage.

I'm sorry.

But‐‐

I believe in that girl.

And I will until the day they carry out her sentence.

Seeing what she saw, when she was only ten!

She's carrying a huge load of karma.

The karma of a mother with no self‐control.

Please try to understand that.

I'm fine from here, thank you.

When you see Fujiko, could you tell her something?

To forget.

She should take all the bad things, and forget them.

I'll tell her.

Thank you very much.

She's all grown up.

I saw your Aunt Shigeko the other day.

Shigeko was like a mother to you, wasn't she.

And Sakiko...

Tell me.

Yes?

I'm filing an appeal. Do you think I'll get a retrial?

I don't know.

I don't know much about law.

The other day they came for the woman in the next cell.

I should've been first, right?

Do you want to die?

Then I won't get any older.

Thank your lucky stars.

Without Sakiko's manuscript, I wouldn't be talking to you.

About that manuscript‐‐

I've realized something.

Maybe it doesn't start with Sakiko's childhood‐‐

but with your last murder.

♪ I am but a wax doll ♪

♪ I'm a sawdust doll ♪ ♪

Take this. It's your lunch money.

♪ I am just a dreaming doll ♪

♪ A dreaming doll of song ♪ ♪

Those aren't the words.

♪ I am but a wax doll, I'm a sawdust doll ♪ ♪

No.

You're wrong.

Once we've paid the lunch money, no one can say anything any more.

You won't eat the pudding, right?

Of course not. It's not cool.

Doesn't that look like Mom?

You think so? Mom's prettier than that.

You just say that 'cause people say you look like her.

I do not!

If you don't eat your pudding, bring it for me.

No! The cool thing is to give it to a boy.

♪ I am just a dreaming doll, a dreaming doll of song ♪

♪ Looking at the world through glasses ♪

♪ Tinted the color of rose ♪ ♪

'Morning.

Sir! My lunch money!

Ow!

Come with me.

Strip.

Why?

If you don't pay your lunch money, you have to strip.

I brought it.

That money's dirty!

I got it from my mom!

Your mom looks just like that woman on the wanted poster!

She killed someone and stole it!

She did not!

My mom says she's a monster who's crazy about plastic surgery!

Shut up!

Give me back my lunch money!

You won't get away!

I'll get you!

Help! Hey!

Help me!

Help, will you!

Help me!

Hey, wait! Help me!

Mom.

Mom!

Mom!

And this is‐‐

the money you gave Sakiko‐‐

for lunch money that day?

You murdered Mizue Yoshioka, who lived in the same building‐‐

and gave these to Sakiko out of what you stole.

It's true that whenever you felt like it‐‐

you abused Sakiko on a regular basis‐‐

and abandoned your responsibilities.

But, though you knew it was wrong‐‐

that killing is always wrong‐‐

is it not true that you stole this money‐‐

for Sakiko's school lunch?

For only that reason?

As it happens, three days before this manuscript arrived‐‐

Sakiko died.

She killed herself‐‐

with sleeping pills in a hotel bathroom.

She'd attempted suicide the same way a year before.

And, just like you, when she was ten somebody tried to kill her.

It's possible that Sakiko‐‐

didn't really feel alive.

I can't help thinking...

You're just like your mother, you know.

this tells her whole story.

But then why?

Go to hell!

Why did you try to kill her, too?

Mom!

No!

No!

I'm not like Mom!

I never tried to kill Sakiko!

Never!

Never!

Uehara! I'll stop the visit!

I'm not here to blame you.

I just wanted to talk to you.

That scar on your neck.

Sakiko had one on her neck, too.

After you'd killed your husband Hideki‐‐

just when Sakiko had come home from school‐‐

you cut her throat.

Mom!

But Sakiko didn't write anything about that.

Even though she'd gone into such detail about everything else.

Perhaps she didn't want to write about almost being murdered‐‐

by her mother.

Perhaps in this manuscript she wanted the world to see you‐‐

as a mother, rather than as a killer.

I believe that what's in here‐‐

is a scream of agony.

If maybe‐‐

you have something to say to Sakiko‐‐

anything‐‐

even an apology‐‐

I'd like to include that at the end.

Fujiko‐‐

wouldn't you have liked to be a real‐‐

Hey!

Serves her right!

If she was going to die anyway, I should've killed her then!

I'd have cut her up and made her vanish!

I'd have made it all end then and there!

Uehara! This visit is over!

Somehow I was hoping to hear a sincere expression‐‐

of regret for her having laid hands‐‐

on her daughter.

I think my sister's dying wish is in the manuscript she left me.

It's like she said.

Without dreams or hope, there is no despair.

That's a bit extreme.

You wouldn't know, Haru. Your mom's not a murderer.

You're not Miyako Uehara any more.

You live as Michiko Takamine.

And that's how I intend it to stay.

But that woman's blood flows in my veins.

I might kill you, cut you up, and make you vanish.

Michiko?

Cut you up and make you vanish.

♪ I am just a dreaming doll, a dreaming doll of song ♪

♪ A doll whose heart is always filled with song ♪ ♪

Mom!

It's karma, you know. Karma. The fate‐‐

he was born to.

♪ I am a beautiful doll of song ♪

♪ Looking at the world through glasses ♪

♪ Tinted the color of rose ♪ ♪

Mom!

♪ Everyone can hear my song ♪

♪ Everyone ♪ ♪

Will you look at this room! It's all bloody.

We have to clean it up.

Put it back like it was.

If your life goes on like this, it won't be worth living.

You'll end up just like your mom.

Don't!

Don't.

How far back should we go?

But what happens when we get back there?

Well?

What then?

Mom!

Nothing happens.

After all, you take after your mother.