Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  Teshigahara's first fictional feature film is overflowing with metaphoric symbolism and imagery. Though this doesn't seem to flow as smoothly as <i>Woman in the Dunes</i> or <i>The Face of Another</i>, the same genius is abundantly apparent.

• Saskia D

  
  Maybe my expectations were to high, but I just didn't feel it..

• danny d

  
  absolutely enthralling and near perfect murder mystery/ghost story. my second viewing of a teshigahara film and he is already a director that has my attention, its just too bad he made so few feature films. this is one of the most unique and interesting ways ive ever seen a crime… More
  absolutely enthralling and near perfect murder mystery/ghost story. my second viewing of a teshigahara film and he is already a director that has my attention, its just too bad he made so few feature films. this is one of the most unique and interesting ways ive ever seen a crime story told. the cinematography was perfect and the acting superb, especially on the part of igawa. as the writer kobo abe had a lot to do with the originality of the story, but teshigahara brings this story to film in flawless fashion.

• Eric B

  
  Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara ("Woman in the Dunes"), "Pitfall" is a strange, genre-bending drama mixing murder conspiracy, the supernatural and labor-union disputes. The film's twists and story arc are so unconventional that a review shouldn't reveal… More
  Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara ("Woman in the Dunes"), "Pitfall" is a strange, genre-bending drama mixing murder conspiracy, the supernatural and labor-union disputes. The film's twists and story arc are so unconventional that a review shouldn't reveal much of the plot. Let's stick with the opening events: Hisashi Igawa plays an unnamed, vagrant miner who receives a mysterious offer to work in a village further down the road. When he arrives (with a young son at his side), the area is unexpectedly deserted. Meanwhile, a man in a clean white suit is tailing him, ominously snapping photos from afar. Why? If this sounds like an old "Twilight Zone" episode to you, you aren't so far off. The black and white cinematography feels similar, and the film's year (1962) even overlaps with the TV series' lifespan. "Pitfall" is a dusty, sweaty film loaded with tension, menace and unanswered questions. It also benefits from picturesque, rundown locations and a distinctive score that often sounds like someone banging the insides of a piano. The second half doesn't quite deliver on the premise's potential, but the scenes have a gripping, existential atmosphere similar to "Woman in the Dunes" (but with a thinner sense of allegory).

• Dimitris S

  
  Fairly spooky but this is preferably a psychological orgasm of industrialism,a society merged in the collapse of empires,financial terminals,that which Teshigahara proves is the functional corpus of the yuppies,the real businessmen controlling each person's life,tangled up with… More
  Fairly spooky but this is preferably a psychological orgasm of industrialism,a society merged in the collapse of empires,financial terminals,that which Teshigahara proves is the functional corpus of the yuppies,the real businessmen controlling each person's life,tangled up with suspense. Frightening as it sounds,Abe's screenplay preciseness is excellent and the premise calmly moves to a satirical versatility in spite of the dead-end finale.

• Christopher B

  
  Awesome collision of many different genres. Ghost story, murder mystery, political statement, and art film. There's doppelgangers, sex, afterlife and a mysterious hit man and I'm probably missing a lot of things. Kind of like Blue Collar mixed with Ghost directed by David… More
  Awesome collision of many different genres. Ghost story, murder mystery, political statement, and art film. There's doppelgangers, sex, afterlife and a mysterious hit man and I'm probably missing a lot of things. Kind of like Blue Collar mixed with Ghost directed by David Lynch. Very highly recommended.

Read all 6 featured audience ratings