The movie erratically starts with Yasuzo his wife Ryoko’s agreement to kill their son Tsutomu by strangulation as the title implies. As much as Shindo takes care to reveal what happened after this, including neighborly support for the couple in all senses of the word, this is not the chief direction of the story but rather how a young man who had been a good boy from a decent background ended up being so tormenting to his parents that they felt it necessary to kill him.
Shindo has accused and been accused in this movie, which makes it a more contextual theme. In particular, Tsutomu is pressured by his environment, especially his father who shifted his business near Tokyo to make sure that his offspring would take up the right path according to him-school then to college before getting a good job and raising an ideal family these were values of those days while no other alternatives were possible ones given by Yasuzo himself though he did not impose them harshly on him thereby putting great pressure upon Tsutomu.
At the start, though, Yasuzo does not seem too annoyed by this kind of insistence. But that all changes when he starts developing thoughts about sex. A young man is confused by series of events between him and his classmate: from flirting to attempted rape to spending a night in a hotel in the mountains, ending up with real rape and resulting in murder and suicide. It’s not easy for the boy’s mind to come to terms with it all. In addition to his basic needs being taken care of by his parents only (food, shelter etc.) as well as an incident involving his father which seems to lead them on such path also somewhat puts them in the spotlight but no way near enough to justify what he had done afterwards. Tsutomu hates Yasuzo mostly because of an intense Oedipal complex toward the latter’s mother; he has also developed sexual feelings towards his mother himself as mentioned above.
He fights both of his parents in a series of confrontations within the house before they ultimately get to this point, where Shindo does not really justify it, but rather make it seem like an excuse for them and themselves as well since they may be sharing the same fate pretty soon. On the other hand, Ryoko’s own aberrant sexual desires; the neighbors supporting them; their failed attempt at dual suicide; and all those factors serve to make everything less clear about what has happened there except Shindo’s main remark that is just that we live in a world where everybody is insane (deviant), dangerous, and there isn’t such thing as a family anymore. As much as pessimistic as this point seems interestingly done, it becomes obvious that he exaggerated by presenting it like that because at times one can easily notice that he went over the top and forgot about some moderation from scriptwriting perspective.
On the flip side however, everything else about the movie is terrific. Shindo’s directing is good all through, especially when it comes to his control of his actors, while the violent scenes among the family members are equally authentic, brutal and dramatic in perhaps the film’s most excellent cinematic aspect. These aspects are captured by Yoshiyuki Miyake in a meaningful artfulness as well as many voyeuristic scenes featuring Tsutomu; he also manages to depict the house as an utterly suffocating environment for everyone who exists within its walls. On her part, Shizuko Toshima edits at a relatively fast pace that complements the rather episodic structure of this film considering that it mostly unfolds without any notable dragging or superfluous scenes.
As far as acting goes, there is good work done by all three leads. Sometimes Tsutomu Kariba is too much but his change from being submissive to rebellious and creepy bastard is highly impressive. In addition Ko Nishimura plays Yasuzo with great style as one would expect from a man who has lost every inch of authority he once had; and finally Nobuko Otowa does not fail Ryoko, who remains true to her son until she can’t anymore.
There may be a lack of slightly avant-garde/experimental elements such as the neighbors who act as a chorus and scenes like interviews with classmates, but “The Strangling” is by all means a striking movie which turns the family drama in every possible way inside out in an immensely gratifying manner.
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