Very disappointed :(

one of my absolute favorites!

Let's be realistic.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

If you need your endings tied up neatly, this movie will frustrate you. If you don't mind not knowing the answers at the end, that is if the questions are sufficiently compelling, this movie will haunt you. I agree it's wise to watch it more than once, especially if Japanese is not your native language. This was Michiko Hada's first movie role; she had been a super-model. I don't know if she can act, but Okuyama captured a tremendous, multifaceted performance on film, which leads me to think she can. In keeping with the plot entanglements, she is the true focus of the story, as she portrays both a real and an imagined Shizuko. What makes the mystery a mystery is not who dunnit, but where does reality leave off and imagination take over. If you can handle being unable to solve a tough puzzle, you might also like "Jacob's Ladder" for the same reason.

For the record, I gave this film a "10". It's one of my favorite films. Then again, it's not for everyone. If you're looking for a linear film that spells everything out and leaves nothing to the imagination, pass this one up. I've read criticisms that it's too disorienting and "stream of consciousness". I'm shocked at this criticism, because that's precisely what makes this film a work of art. I've seen Mystery Of Rampo half a dozen times and everytime I see it, I discover something new. There are so many metaphors and so many layers of meaning and interpretation. On one level, Shizuko is trapped by in a world that is "unreal" while Rampo is trapped in a world that is "real". And their love breaks the chains that bind them as the line between the real and the unreal disappears. All the actors are brilliant. There are no one-dimensional good or bad main characters. Michiko Hada and Naoto Tokenaka show a full range of subtle, conflicting emotions; fear, heroism, intimacy, callousness, attachment, detachment, resignation, and hope.Michiko is hauntingly beautiful, almost other-worldly, and perfect for the part. And the difference between Naoto's character in Mystery and Shall We Dance show what an excellent actor he is. The visual metaphors, such as the increasingly elaborate doors, are brilliant. And the soundtrack is one of my favorite. It creates a magical space that envelopes the audience. While this film is incredibly beautiful and stylish, the story goes much deeper, leaving the audience to wonder over it long after the film is over.

This is a fitting tribute to Edogawa Rampo, one of the greatest horror/suspense writers of the 20th century. He so keenly admired Edgar Allan Poe that he effaced his own name and personality and adopted Poe's (say "Edogawa Rampo" a few times quickly and you'll see that it is a Japanese pronunciation of the name of the great American writer). Rampo wrote so few works that it is wonderful that a film like this should be made about him, or rather, about his persona -- it is the only way that most people will be able to appreciate his deeply complex personality. (To be perfectly honest, having long ago read Rampo's "The Human Chair," and had its utterly unspeakable terribleness burned into his consciousness, this writer was GREATLY suspicious of the seats in the theater where this film was shown -- THAT is the sort of impact Rampo and his work can have on the mind!)

Many professional critics have trashed this movie as being overly complicated and sickeningly swirling. I say they can't see the forest for the trees. I can imagine literary critics complaining about Finnegan's Wake saying, "All those made up words were annoying". Rampo is a rich sumptuous film which is powerful precisely because it is non-linear. Like a dream from which one is not quite sure one has awakened this film captures the fluid multiplicity of reality. I say leave the dumbed down linear narratives to the suburban megaplex viewers. This is film making not only on a higher level. This film has created a level which brings up viewers to new heights and which beckons future film makers.