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Based on the novel by Kobo Abe.

Screenplay by Kiyotaka Inagaki & Gakuryu Ishii.

Masatoshi Nagase.

Tadanobu Asano.

Ayana Shiramoto.

Kiyohiko Shibukawa Yuko Nakamura.

Koichi Sato.

Directed by Gakuryu Ishii.

Showa era prosperity ends. Economic growth slows.

Unrest sparked by the student movement abates.

Before a flashy economic bubble swells, a vacuum-like time prevails.

I 973.

A new breed of Japanese is in the chrysalis stage of evolution.

Is this just cardboard?

Just garbage?

A pitiful failure in life.

Huh?

Think what you want Look down on me all you like.

But the truth is the reverse.

You are looked down upon.

I see right through everything.

A fabricated box you place your faith in.

It is you people who live inside it.

I have abandoned all that is fake,

to obtain the real thing.

What is more,

I can see.

You people as you truly are.

The hidden shape of this world.

Together with this box,

the world shall be fully reborn.

I am

the box man.

I gaze at you unilaterally.

I become unidentifiable.

Inside this box,

I exist as I please.

You may see me,

but you pay no attention.

You feign ignorance.

I take what I need from you,

but you don't even notice.

That suits me just fine.

And yet,

just as I once did..

If you become overly aware of the box man.

Those who obsess over the box man

become the box man.

Nevertheless,

being unidentifiable means

whether he lives or dies, no one cares.

The box man

could be killed at any time.

He would even accept death,

as the king of this world.

Those who obsess over the box man become the box man.

What I seek is

total solitude,

and total anonymity.

Also,

a darkroom and cave of my own.

This darkness and light

forms new visions of the world.

Abe Hospital.

No Entry.

Excuse me.

Now it doesn't matter where he goes.

He's there now...

Mucus builds up in my eyes. Why, I wonder?

Well,

your condition is worsening. You need immediate treatment.

See this here...

Clean them for me.

You.

You'll always be here,

to clean my eyes, won't you?

If need be, I can get started right away.

Oh dear, oh dear...

Thank you, my servant.

Ah, how rude of me.

You're a doctor, aren't you?

A fake doctor, albeit.

You may be a real doctor, but now this unlicensed fake

is more real.

This reminds me

of her buttocks.

So, let's be on the same page.

Be sure to write your will, in your own handwriting.

"My alarmist tendencies spiraled out of control."

"Eventually, I shut myself away in my room,"

"to either starve, or hang myself,"

"and die."

"However, to go on deceiving the world,"

"until I died, felt unbearable to me,"

"so with this, I shall document the truth."

A box man, the real thing,

must endure all physical pain,

and survive all dangerous situations.

Itchiness, and discomfort,

are merely beginner level.

Indeed The powers that be maintain public order

by employing professional killers. My sworn enemy,

badge-wearing beggars!

A love-hate relationship? Or just a game?

He means business! How foolish of me!

Who is that sniper?

Like my former self, hating the box man who infected me?

If so,

if anyone must endure inner pain, it is him.

There's a hospital nearby.

Do those legs belong to a loyal aide of my executioner?

Or an angel, offering me salvation?

Foolish thinking.

Then again,

it is a promising invitation.

I'll remove this.

Help me.

Sit him up.

Excuse me.

People take mischief too far these days.

Did you report this?

No.

Well, that's probably a wise move.

You could provoke your assailant.

But I can issue a medical certificate.

Also, this is suppurating, so I'll treat it.

Local anesthetic.

- Lay him down. - If I may...

You'll feel a prick.

Those who obsess over the box man

become the box man.

All of this

.Is ridiculous.

Time is merely

.Passing me by.

That thing!

"This is"

"a record chronicling the box man."

"Right now, I am writing this within the box.."

Day by day

.This presence

.Becomes more inescapable.

Those who obsess over the box man

become the box man.

You shouldn't get up yet.

What's your line of work?

I don't normally ask that.

Photos.

I was convinced you were a writer.

You mutter novel-like prose in your sleep.

You were taking photos?

Before the assault?

Of scenery.

People too?

You don't shoot people?

No.

The person who hurt you,

was it a homeless man in a box?

Don't you know? He pops up here and there lately.

I know.

Photographers are

like peeping toms,

so we know things.

I hear he's aggressive.

He wasn't in a box.

But...

Maybe,

the box man

is a photographer I know.

He only takes photos

of things people don't know.

He's a peeping tom?

The box man?

Like paring with a knife,

he peers at people.

His gaze is sharp enough

to peel off clothing.

I'd be fine with that.

I was a model, for quite a long time.

When I say model, I mean nude modeling for artists,

or photos for their use.

At first,

I was so nervous, you could hear my skin crawl.

At some point, that changed.

I began to sense the pulses

and thoughts of people watching.

It became fulfilling to me.

Many men came on to me.

I was exceedingly curious.

I don't know who made me pregnant,

yet I wanted the child.

But my body couldn't...

Oh.

I crumbled emotionally too.

I recovered thanks to that doctor.

So now he

takes advantage of you?

It's good to be useful.

I quite enjoy working as a nurse.

Modeling's difficult enough in itself.

Just between you and me.

I'm not qualified.

I'm a fake.

I have a favor to ask about the box man.

If it's... something I can do.

I want that box.

Could you tell him?

That I want to buy it.

Take care.

Will you

help me?

I think that went well.

Thanks.

So, next...

Which do you prefer?

This one?

Sorry, I forgot something...

It'll be over soon.

Trust me.

No Entry.

Ms.Yoko.

Ms.Yoko.

Come here.

Sweat...

Ms.Yoko.

Come closer.

It's frizzy.

Perhaps it will rain.

No need to worry.

All we experience happens within a delusion.

The assassin is that doctor..

If so,

is that woman his minion?

Or could it be,

she truly wants me to save her?

Yes?

I see.

Alright.

Wait till you're ready to call me!

I am ready.

You too must learn

how it feels to be a box man.

No.That's not necessary for me.

Ms.Yoko.

What if he peeps from inside the box,

as we continue?

No, that's not necessary!

I want you to peep.

No no, that's not my style. You and I aren't the same.

Then,

how long should I wait?

My preparations are complete!

That box is far from the real thing.

I'll destroy the real box.

Are you truly ready to destroy it?

Are you truly ready?

I am Jubilant.

You've taken care of everything.

Even my death.

Until that time, we proceed as promised.

So,

are we doing it or not?

Or instead,

shall we end this?

Very soon, you'll become

the real thing.

Stay the course.

I'm sorry. This'll be over soon.

Once it's over,

what should I do?

You know.

He goes away. That's all! Why?

Since encountering the box man, you've changed.

Huh?

His notes...

What?

They're vital to him.

You'll go in that box too?

To pull off the perfect crime, it might be necessary.

I don't understand.

It makes no sense to me.

Why did she say she wants the box?

Smells like a trap.

Did I agree because.

I had no reason to doubt?

Or because it was her?

We agreed to meet here.

Of course,

I shall count on her coming, as she promised.

However,

in case that doctor tries

to kill me again,

these notes and negatives will be evidence.

They will prove the identity of

the box man murderer.

"I shall trust you."

"A receipt is unnecessary."

"You shall relinquish the box."

"By morning,"

"relinquish the box completely."

Don't you see this box's true value?

You only do that doctor's bidding.

Is that hospital your prison?

Isn't that your prison?

That's

just a cardboard box.

No!

It's an exit to another world.

Would you

care to join me?

You shall take the money,

obey our contract, and relinquish the box.

Think about nothing more.

You speak from the heart?

Do you know where the heart

truly lies?

Will you

help me?

But the box obscured his face, making him even scarier.

This is only a reenactment. Don't be afraid.

Now, get undressed.

First, may I ask something?

No no, that'll only waste time.

No, that's what I said to him.

Oh, I get you.

He gave me a beer.

Thanks.

You drank it like that?

Yes. Naked.

How bright was ♪It?

The light in the room.

This bright?

Totally pitch black.

That can't be. He wanted to be seen, right?

Perfectionist.

He's my doppelganger... Unforgivable!

This experiment requires accuracy.

He suddenly ate this cactus.

Not a cactus. A euphorbia ingens, brought back from Kenya.

If you want to be accurate, eat it.

He made me adopt different poses, as if searching for treasure.

Then he began to look odd...

Was he high off the cactus?

Euphorbia doesn't do that. It's only a purgative.

That was the only discovery from his research.

A "purgative"?

A laxative.

A laxative?!

A laxative, as well as enemas?

- Enemas? - Yes.

Without tiring. So many enemas.

He said, "See if it's bigger."

I said, "About 80," and he got mad.

"That can't be right. I know my body better than you."

But, wait. Wasn't the room pitch black?

He asked me to turn a light on.

Hey hey. Hold on. Don't skimp on the details.

How big was it?

How big?

What?

I forgot.

He was almost erect off my smell,

so he told me to come closer.

- This close? - Closer.

- This close? - Closer.

- Closer. - This close?

That close.

Then what?

"Get on all fours. Peeking at your behind is heavenly."

Did you do it for him?

The thought of him peeking at me

drains me, and the blood from my rear,

making me feel numb.

Like turning to stone.

And the enemas?

"More, more," he said. Didn't make him bigger.

This experiment requires accuracy.

Of course, you'll reenact it?

You need to know, right? Talking's not enough.

Talking's not enough!

Inserting it now.

Don't tense up.

40 more.

20.

Almost there.

Stay still.

There, all done.

He trembled just like you.

Sure you want to continue?

How can I not continue?

How can I?!

It was hard to see, but he'd made another hole ♪In the box.

He used it to sniff me like a dog.

Like this?!

Yes. It seems peeping wasn't enough for him.

More.

More.

Well done.

Keep going.

Yes, that's the way.

More.

Good.

Keep going.

That's it.

That's it.

More.

More.

That's it.

Doctor?

What's wrong?

Inside that box, I became certain.

The real key to it isn't peeping, it's the notes.

Notes?

The act of note-taking.

That's what makes him the box man.

I must act before he destroys the notes with the box!

Oh not.

I contemplate why she is in the doctor's thrall.

Lewd acts are unbecoming of her.

If the box is a mobile tunnel,

she is the light at the end of it.

Light that will make me

shed the box?

I don't want you to laugh or rage at me.

What's important is

that the one laughing and raging

is you.

Last Will and Testament.

"I chose death of my own volition.

"Even if some may believe that I was murdered".

"That is entirely down to my own clumsiness The future.."

So, who are you exactly?

Now now.

Asking the box man's identity is the world's most moronic question.

Fair enough.

Still, seeing a box is way different to wearing one.

A town can only accommodate one box man.

That's an unwritten code.

Surely you know that already.

Actually, yesterday, I spent the night in this box.

It was a revelation. No wonder you want to be a box man.

Can you pay the cost?

Absolutely.

Excuse me. Please refrain from smoking.

It's bad for the skin.

What? I'm not smoking.

Neither am I.

Yet I smell cigarette smoke.

"Forget about that".

Forget about that. So, what do you say?

Will you choose me or him?

Without you, Doctor, your patients would suffer.

That's an evasive answer.

Well anyway, listen.

I'd like to offer a compromise.

"What's important is

"that the one laughing and raging is you."Yes...

You seem rather smitten with her.

Say. Why not get naked and show him?

What?

No skin off your nose.

For example, how about, well...

If you were to take off your box, I could give her to you.

Use this place to your liking. I won't interfere at all.

Oh, sorry! One more thing. Er...

Allow me the freedom to peep.

From inside this box, of course.

As inconspicuous as a trash bin.

Are you

a slave to this pervert?

Want to stop? I will.

You're quite an indecisive fellow.

If you want to take photos of me, you can.

Hey, listen.

More than photos, he'd rather be more direct. Right?

Go on, drop the pretense. Act like I'm not here.

Enjoy yourself with her.

You know, she's not following my orders.

She's pragmatic and clever. She instinctively chooses correctly.

Hurting people isn't for me.

That's not quite right. You can be supremely cruel.

You never get attached.

Wait a moment.

Hey.

She's stripping for you, so take a good look.

Like a box man does!

Listen, copulation and violence come from the same instinct.

Territory drives living things to pounce.

For humans, it's our arms' length.

Come within that, and we throw hands, or copulate.

Either way, skin's meeting skin intensely.

In your case, she's only half a step away.

Take half a step, and she's all yours.

What?

What what what?!

That's your answer?

This is a trap.

Alas, I have evidence.

You want the box man gone. You want to destroy me.

Just as an aspiring box man would.

I know because.

I did the exact same thing.

Give that to me!

Sure, sure.

The negatives are well...

Well hidden away.

You leave me no choice.

Enough pointless babble.

You should've followed your instincts.

This town isn't

big enough for two box men!

Screw you!

Yoko get down!

H I uh?

Shit!

Owt.

Yoko! Reload this for me!

Doctor.

This'll do.

Come back!

You sonovabitch.

Screw you!

Owt.

You got some nerve! How could you do that to Yoko.

Don't!

Shitwad!

That hurt.

Get back here!

Get back here!

Doctor.

Where'd he go?!

You piece of shit.

My eyes!

Now you die.

No!

Right now, where are you and what are you doing?!

As you can see.

I'm fighting you.

And I won.

If so,

who's writing these notes?

This has all been written! Somebody must be writing it!

That is.

"Myself."

Then right now,

who's standing before me?!

Aha.

I've finally figured out who you are.

You, this run-down hospital,

and Yoko too, are all

figments of a delusion by "Myself."

That proves that "Myself" is the real box man.

Maybe,

that's what somebody else is writing.

Such as me.

This is

a story about "Myself."

Maybe,

somebody's writing that on the fly too.

The box man is "Myself!" "Myself"! "Myself"!

"Myself"! "Myself"!

Stop it!

Who

is this?

Who is.

"Myself"?

I'm alright.

Stop. Apart from you-know-who, I don't mind living here.

Something's gotten into you.

I can't stop.

This surpasses a mystery novel plot. It's the perfect crime.

Listen. The world will hear of an outlaw,

a crazed anonymous box man, drowning by accident!

You don't have to make it happen.

If he wants to die, let him do it himself.

He's aching for euthanasia. It's in his notes.

But his notes carry more credence, so I need to rewrite them.

Once I do, it'll be the perfect crime. Euthanasia.

He has little time left.

I can tell.

He stinks of death.

So please, don't risk your life recklessly.

I'll be fine.

I'm a better doctor than that real one.

Why would I fake his drowning?

Plus, I've accumulated evidence, for us.

I'll add an alibi framing him as the box man.

It'll work. Go watch a streaming movie or something.

I need to write our police statements...

Steady on...

Everything I say is nothing but the truth.

As for the corpse that washed up on the shore..

Found any evidence?

Not yet.

I'll take a look.

There have been multiple sightings of a box-wearing vagrant in town.

It seems he fell into the sea.

Severe damage to his corpse.

Sea water was found in his lungs.

Apart from the cardboard box, he had a thick notebook and a watch.

The autopsy estimates the time of death was

30 hours earlier.

The general had a suicidal streak.

"General"?

Oh, at our hospital, we called him that.

He was SDF surgeon general, then took over his father's practice,

providing medical support in war zones.

I first met him near the Somali border,

at a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya.

I see.

However, you've been practicing without a license.

Oh, well...

You're correct, I lack a doctor's license.

With regard to that, I'll humbly await judgment. But,

let me explain my relationship with the general.

- Go ahead. - Alright.

As a nurse, I aided the general with the best intentions.

However, unfortunately, he contracted a rare disease.

While providing medical support, he was researching

the medicinal properties of an African succulent,

using himself as a test subject, making him ill.

But there was no treatment for the mysterious disease,

which left only pain relief. Meaning,

the use of medical narcotics.

Indeed, traces of drugs were found in his blood.

Right...

From then on, our fate was sealed.

I couldn't ignore the general's plight, so I returned to Japan with him.

I began to work at his private hospital,

but his condition only kept deteriorating.

The narcotics made him act strangely...

You kept supplying him?

Well, you see, as a true friend,

the idea of rehab made sense. Conversely,

the drugs he used were hopelessly addictive.

What I'm trying to say is, taking drugs from the general

was tantamount to encouraging suicide.

I see.

No excuse for lacking a license though.

I'm aware of that.

This all began

because the general secretly left war zone medical support to me.

A rare disease, narcotics...

The general was in no state to carry out his duties.

Well, fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately,

my medical prowess eclipsed the general's.

Anyway, that's why after I returned,

to desperately protect his reputation, I kept up the ruse.

Of course, I'm aware that's no excuse. Still,

it was what I had to do to protect his livelihood.

Understood.

That being said, the general eventually died.

Moreover, in a cardboard box.

You didn't know he was wandering the town?

Well,

actually, as of late, the general

and his addiction had worsened.

So, in a private room in the hospital,

he locked himself inside and cut himself off from us.

On top of that,

the staff and I were rather preoccupied,

so we weren't able to keep tabs on him completely.

There's something you're not saying.

Hiding it will do you no good.

No...

No no, I just can't speak ill of someone who chose to die...

Tell me.

Well...

To be frank, the general was blackmailing me.

He repeatedly threatened suicide to get more drugs,

and said he'd expose my deceit.

Eventually, drugs weren't enough.

He'd always been an eccentric,

but he lost control of his perversions.

This is quite embarrassing...

He demanded my common-law wife, so he could watch her naked.

He even made her administer enemas.

I don't resent him. I was just deeply troubled by him.

Him wandering around in a box?

How could I have stopped him?

I'm ready to fake your death by drowning.

In accordance with your wishes.

At last...

What's with that getup?

You doubt your executioner?

The truth is, you're already dead.

You didn't want an ordinary suicide.

You don't care who takes you out of existence.

Who better than the box man?

No.

I'll die as the box man.

In this drama, that's where the ecstasy resides.

Getting killed by the box man is more amusing.

Where is Yoko?

You still want a woman?

She desires intercourse with me.

I must satiate her in-suppressible curiosity.

Begging for your life?

Life and death are irrelevant.

Only experiencing euphoria matters...

Rest assured. I'll kill you perfectly.

It's already written in my notes.

You arrogantly presumed that I'm not capable.

If I don't kill you, you'll expose me as a fake.

You toyed with our lives.

Using the box man to fake your suicide can't be a perfect crime?

You always thought we were...

Mood wrecker.

Do it the way we agreed.

I never needed evidence.

Once I kill you, and become the box man, it's a perfect crime.

In your own words,

I'll become the real thing at last.

There is only one real thing, and that is me.

Bliss...

Doctor.

Doctor.

I'm not a doctor.

What are you then?

The box man. The real thing.

Why?

You're free.

And so am I.

You...

Who are you?

Speculating on who is inside

is most unbecoming of a box man.

Turns out you were a fake box man.

Want to be the real thing?

Try finding the answer in here.

I don't need it anymore.

These are

the notes I wrote.

Maybe, somebody wrote that too.

Closed today.

What do you want?

I have unfinished business.

He wrote

a more genuine version of myself,

and became a real box man.

So he's not coming back. The doctor.

Can't I

become the real thing?

That box is filthy.

Why not take it off?

Aren't you tired of it yet?

Could you

lend me something to wear?

I'm naked.

So, you do feel shame?

Experience how it feels... to be watched.

There.

How's this?

Come out.

She is,

indeed,

the exit of this tunnel.

Your unfinished business. What is it?

An exit... Never mind a conclusion!

What conclusion?

That's it!

Why not take the world,

and shut it all away in a box?

We'll begin from the end.

I can feel

a warm breeze.

It is summer, you know.

"What I.."

We'll begin from the end. This warm breeze...

Did that box turn you into a poet?

"What I believe I am seeing

is a world yet to begin, an illusory time".

You want to hole up here?

It's so quiet.

It feels lovely.

In here, there are

no watchers or watched.

Will our differences also cease to exist?

Time stops...

And forever comes?

The scent of your hair.

Your behind, big and round.

What's. Next for us?

I don't know.

A chrysalis, hardened into a hideaway shell.

But inside that shell,

everything melts,

becomes one,

and is reborn in a different form.

A butterfly that will take flight?

I am not mistaken.

I may have failed, but I have no regrets.

The sound of her closing the door

conveyed heartfelt pity and compassion.

It was not... the sound of her exit.

She did not

escape to the outside world.

She ventured into a world deeper within.

In this box,

the more you struggle,

the more labyrinths you create.

This world is an exit-less black hole.

She is

simply lost somewhere within.

I could not become the real thing,

so within this labyrinth, I shall seek an exit,

continuing to struggle for all time.

The one who watches this world,

fantasizes this world,

creates this world,

and rules this world is.

Within this fantasy,

we are all fake.

Merely figments of imagination.

And so,

the real box man

keeps watching unilaterally,

wavering between joy and sorrow.

Indeed.

The box man is,

namely.

.Yourself.

Myself: Masatoshi Nagase.

Fake doctor: Tadanobu Asano.

Yoko: Ayana Shiramoto.

Badge-wearing beggar: Kiyohiko Shibukawa.

Detective: Yuko Nakamura.

General: Koichi Sato.

Producers: Keisuke Konishi &Tomohiko Seki.

Based on the novel by Kobo Abe.

Screenplay by Kiyotaka Inagaki & Gakuryu Ishii.

Director of Photography: Hideho Urata.

Lighting Director: Yoshio Tsunetani.

Production Designer: Yuji Hayashida.

Sound Mixer: Masashi Furuya.

Costume Designer: Yoshie Ogasawara.

Character Supervisor: Shinji Hashimoto.

Editor: Banri Nagase

VFX Producers: Hiromasa Inoue & Ayumi Yamada.

Music: Michiaki Katsumoto.

Sound Effects Editor: Masatoshi Katsumata.

Photos in opening sequence: Kobo Abe.

A cogitoworks production.

Happinet Phantom Studios presents.

In association with cogitoworks & THEYOMIURI SHIMBUN.

Directed by Gakuryu Ishii.

English subtitles by Don Brown