Encased High School Girl Murder Case is a film from 1995, and unfortunately, it’s based on a real-life gruesome murder taking place in 1988, Japan. How much of it that is actually true and how much of it that is dramatization is, of course, hard to say. The only thing to base it on are the statements told by the convicted perpetrators at the trial. It is played out nearly as a documentary, which makes it strange. We’re more used to seeing gruesome tales presented in a feature film context.
The murder itself is infamous in Japan and is known as the “concrete-encased high school girl murder case.” I, myself, haven’t really read up so much about it. I knew about the case before seeing the film but was not really aware of the monstrous deeds she was subjected to.
But let’s rewind. What we first see is someone explaining the circumstances to us, like a narrator. This figure keeps showing up and explaining things to us. I guess that is what gives Encased High School Girl Murder Case its documentary feel, maybe. We get to see the beginning, when the abduction takes place, and how the victim is subjected to suggestions that she, and her family, will get in even more trouble if she doesn’t cooperate.
She is threatened with the fact that the Yakuza is after her and assured that the gang, consisting of four juvenile boys, has connections in places high enough in the Yakuza to make things change. In the first half of the movie or so, not that much happens. At least not graphically on camera. It’s more like a steady pathway to decay, a slow breakdown of her will and resistance.
The violence, both sexual and physical, increases over the course of the movie. But as it’s not shown in any great detail, it’s more the actual terror they submit her to that is the most revolting. That is what makes me want to throw up. Of course I, have the luxury of knowing that this is a movie; I can’t imagine the feelings going through the actual victim when she’s burned, beaten, repeatedly raped and degraded.
Encased High School Girl Murder Case does feel like you’re watching a documentary. The violence is not very stylistic, and the dramatization appears to be very down-to-earth. The narrator and the dates shown on screen emphasize this documentary feel. It doesn’t exploit the events; it simply tells the story. It is not entertaining, nor is it meant to be. Encased High School Girl Murder Case is a movie that, at least in my mind, tries to describe the events as truthfully as possible.
Is it good? Well, it’s not entertaining. Does it make an impact? Yes, if your aim is to feel disgust for the perpetrators and empathy for the victim, it is successful. The experience leaves me with anger and frustration. Evil lives everywhere. Encased High School Girl Murder Case also tries to discuss the legal aspects. Why the sentencing of the juvenile boys wasn’t more severe and why others, who it’s reasonable to think knew about the abduction but didn’t intervene, weren’t charged.
One thing is for certain. This film makes you feel, and not in a good way…
