After serving time in prison for murdering his unfaithful wife, Yamashita is released on parole, accompanied only by his pet eel

After serving time in prison for murdering his unfaithful wife, Yamashita (Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days, Cure) is released on parole, accompanied only by his pet eel. Hoping to stay out of trouble, he takes over a rural barber shop that quickly becomes a gathering point for the eccentric locals. However, the discovery of a woman's failed suicide starts a chain reaction that brings back past demons - and not just his own. The Eel won master filmmaker Shohei Imamura his second Palme d'Or, after 1983's The Ballad of Narayama and was the breakthrough of its star Yakusho.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Interview with critic Tony Rayns
• Interview with screenwriter Daisuke Tengan
• Visual essay by Tom Mes on the year 1997 as a turning point in Japanese cinema
• Newly improved English subtitle translation

Cast & Crew

•       Koji Yakusho
•       Misa Shimizu
•       Mitsuko Baisho

Director: Shohei Imamura

Additional Details

Label: Radiance

Genre: Drama

Language: Japanese

Run Time: 117 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 01/20/26

UPC: 760137199731