This review contains spoilers.
The convict and the lawyer are quite similar. Shigemori believes so deeply in the law that he’s sacrificed his life for it—early in the film Kore-eda reveals that the attorney’s wife divorced him and that his neglected 14-year-old daughter is becoming a delinquent. Shigemori realizes that he’s failed as a family man but makes little attempt to change his personal life; he’s too committed to the cause of justice. Misumi has also sacrificed much of his life to do what he believes is right. In the middle of The Third Murder, Shigemori travels to the convict’s hometown in Hokkaido to persuade Misumi’s estranged daughter to serve as a character witness, and learns from the townspeople that Misumi went to jail the first time because he murdered two local gangsters who’d been preying on the community. By confessing to the murder Sakie has committed, Misumi accepts that, as a repeat offender, he may receive the death penalty, but he considers Sakie’s happiness worth dying for. Misumi shows that he’s made peace with his fate in the early scenes, when he answers his lawyers’ questions by telling them what he thinks they want to hear. He doesn’t care about telling the truth or improving their defense, since he’s already achieved his mission.
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. 125 min.
