The Neighbor No. Thirteen
| The Neighbor No. Thirteen | |
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| Directed by | Yasuo Inoue |
| Written by | Hajime Kado |
| Based on |
Rinjin 13-gô by Santa Inoue |
| Starring |
Shido Nakamura Shun Oguri |
| Music by | Reiji Kitazato |
| Cinematography | Taro Kawazu |
| Edited by |
Urahama Taro Shôjirô Urahama |
| Distributed by | Media Suits |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The Neighbor No. Thirteen (隣人13号 Rinjin 13-gô, or Tonari no hito 13-go) is a dark psychological drama, released in December 2005, directed by Yasuo Inoue and written by Hajime Kado, based on Santa Inoue's manga of the same name, with Oguri Shun, Hirofumi Arai and Nakamura Shido in major roles.
Juzo Murasaki (Oguri Shun) arrives at a work construction area for his new job as a construction worker. To his quiet dismay, his supervising boss is Toru Akai (Hirofumi Arai) who, along with his gang, had made Juzo's life a living hell during their middle school years. Akai however doesn't recognise Juzo.
Juzo becomes more disconcerted when he discovers Akai is living with his wife, Nozomi Akai (Yumi Yoshimura), and their toddler son above Juzo's new apartment. As he struggles to accept those unexpected developments, a mysterious sinister-looking hooded figure appears nearby. When Juzo later has a closer look, half of the man's face is scarred and he calls himself Number 13 (Nakamura Shido).
As Juzo attempts to control his flashbacks and dreams, boss Akai constantly picks on him and other workers including another former middle-school student Seki Hajime (Tomoya Ishii), who ignores Juzo's asocial tendencies by being a friendly face. Meanwhile, Akai's wife Nozomi attempts to make friends with Juzo by inviting him into her home and encouraging him to look after her toddler son. One evening she proudly shows Juzo her husband's school photos. Juzo notices the mark X in a gap between students. He suffers an intense flashback, which reveals the cause of his absence that day: Akai and his gang bully Akai in the school's science room until they throw acid at Juzo's face.
At construction site, Seki becomes suspicious of Juzo's increasingly odd behaviour, and goes to Akai with his concerns. Unaware that Number 13 is watching, Seki tries to get Akai's attention, but Akai walks away. Seki becomes aware of Number 13, who immediately kills him. Number 13 haunts Juzo wherever he goes. Meanwhile, Arai watches Juzo with growing suspicion as a number of his workers and neighbours disappear without trace.
After finding Nozomi's body in the apartment upstairs with the toddler nowhere in sight, Juzo realises where Number 13 has taken the toddler son to and hurries off to save the boy. Coming home from work, Akai discovers his wife's body and his son gone. He's already guessed Juzo was a former classmate and that he has taken his son to their middle school.
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