"Butterflies Are Now... Letters from the Afterlife, Phone Calls from the Dead" (1979 / Saturday Wide Theater) <2-Hour Suspense Review>
Director: Teruo Ishii
Screenplay: Keisuke Kusaka, Mon Shichijo
Original Work: Keisuke Kusaka
Cast: Ken Tanaka, Kanako Higuchi, Kayo Matsuo, Hiroko Hayashi, Masaya Takahashi
<Synopsis>
Yasuo, a college student, accidentally swaps bags while traveling. When he visits the owner, he discovers that the person had committed a double suicide before the trip and was already dead. Suspecting that it might have been murder, Yasuo and his friends begin an investigation.
○ A Voluminous Drama
Looking only at the synopsis, it seems like a typical amateur detective story, but the distinctive point is that the suspects and the detective side develop without ever intersecting.
The suspects are frightened by a mysterious blackmailer, while the protagonists prove the crime without ever making contact with the person in question. The way these two sides progress simultaneously in parallel gives it a sense of volume as if zapping between two different dramas, making it quite worth watching.
It is also a good contrast that the detective side's drama is bright and refreshing, while the suspect side is dark and messy. Furthermore, I was very much looking forward to seeing when these would intersect and what would happen.
○ Shocking Developments
The work far exceeds such viewer expectations. In fact, one could say the true value of this work starts here.
In the latter half of the work, as the two dramas begin to intersect, a completely different truth involving both sides is revealed, leading into even more shocking developments. Frankly, I cannot write anything; spoilers are strictly prohibited.
This development, which takes advantage of it being an amateur detective story, flips the drama up to that point on its head and destroys the viewer's stereotype that "2-hour suspense is where cases are solved normally."
This is surely a work that could never have been made if they were aiming for a series.