VITAL (2004)

Cast

Plot

After waking from a coma following a car crash, Hiroshi suffers from amnesia, barely recognising his own parents he re-enrols in medical school in an effort to re-establish some normality to his life. When he begins an anatomy course he is horrified and shocked to discover that he recognises the female cadaver he has to work on as his ex-girlfriend who died in the accident that hospitalised him. Vital is a hard film to categorise but as it comes from the imagination of Tsukamoto (of Tetsuo fame) that's not too surprising, also not so surprising is the fact that it looks beautiful and deals with themes of consciousness, self and sexuality that will probably stay with you for some time after viewing. Wonderful performances and inspired cinematography also help to make this a worthy and satisfying way to spend an hour and a half of anyones time.