THE TOP SECRET: MURDER IN MIND
In the near-future, the Tokyo police has a special division that can
help in solving the most difficult cases. Department 9 possesses a
revolutionary technology that provides access to the final memories
of the recently deceased. But Maki, the brilliant inventor of the technology,
has two problems. The recovered images of the dead are not
officially admissible as evidence. And it needs a “receiver”, a police
officer who’s willing to delve into the mind of victims and killers. And
when that mind belongs to a serial killer of the kind who drowned
kittens in kindergarten, even the most seasoned receivers emerge
with suicidal tendencies. And this now threatens to close Department
9. Maki has one case to prove the efficiency of his technology, but it’s
a case that has the potential to destroy all those involved.
From Roger Zelazny’s The Dream Master to Tarsem Singh’s ultra stylish
The Cell, the “rape of the mind” is a theme that has often made genre
movies go nuts. This time it’s up to Japan to subconsciously go where
none dare to thread. We’re talking about the adaptation of Reiko
Shimizu’s cult manga, directed by Keishi Ohtomo, the helmer of the
tremendous Rurouni Kenshin double bill at the BIFFF 2015. Top Secret:
Murder in Mind questions our relationship to violence and the ethical
ambivalence of technology and can be described as a science-fiction
version of Silence of the Lambs.