# The Eel (うなぎ)
**The Eel** (うなぎ, *[Unagi](https://www.edgepedia.org/unagi-1997-film)*) is a 1997 Japanese drama directed by Shōhei Imamura, adapted from a short story by Akira Yoshimura, about a paroled murderer who opens a barber shop and confides only in the pet eel he kept in prison[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2020/palme-d-or-the-1990s/) • [2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/). It shared the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at the 50th Cannes Film Festival with [Abbas Kiarostami](https://www.edgepedia.org/abbas-kiarostami)'s *Taste of Cherry*, giving Imamura his second Palme after *The Ballad of Narayama* (1983)[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/the-eel-and-the-cherry-share-the-palm-in-cannes-1262346.html) • [4](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/the-eel/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / screenwriters | Shōhei Imamura; screenplay by Imamura, Motofumi Tomikawa, and Daisuke Tengan, from Akira Yoshimura's short story[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) • [1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2020/palme-d-or-the-1990s/) |
| Japanese release | May 24, 1997; 117 minutes; distributed by Shochiku = Shochiku Fuji[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) |
| Principal cast | Kōji Yakusho (Takuro Yamashita), Misa Shimizu (Keiko Hattori), Akira Emoto, Fujio Tsuneta, Mitsuko Baishō[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel) • [2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) |
| Cannes 1997 | Palme d'Or, shared ex aequo with Kiarostami's *Taste of Cherry*; jury president Isabelle Adjani[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/the-eel-and-the-cherry-share-the-palm-in-cannes-1262346.html) |
| Japanese critical honor | Ranked first in Kinema Junpo's Best Ten for 1997[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) |
| US reception | Distributed by New Yorker Films; grossed $413.8K; 83% on the Tomatometer (24 fresh, 5 rotten of 29 reviews)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
In the summer of 1988, salaryman Takuro Yamashita receives an anonymous letter informing him of his wife's infidelity; in a jealous rage he kills her and gives himself up to the police[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) • [6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html). He spends eight years in prison, where he keeps an eel as his confidant[6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html). Released on parole and placed under the responsibility of a Buddhist priest, Jiro Nakajima, he opens a small hairdressing salon in an industrial zone outside Tokyo and avoids contact with nearly everyone except the eel[6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html) • [7](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120408/credits/).
While cycling, Takuro rescues a young woman, Keiko Hattori, from a suicide attempt, and she comes to work at his shop[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel). A mutual attraction grows, but Takuro's enduring guilt over his wife's murder obstructs the relationship[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel). When a fellow prisoner, Takasaki, threatens to reveal the truth, Takuro confesses to Keiko that he murdered his wife; she does not take offense, and he introduces her to his mother[6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html). The Japanese synopsis adds that after Takuro is returned to prison over trouble with a man named Dojima, his exchanges with the people around him restore his humanity, and he resolves to accept Keiko and her unborn child and go on living[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/).
## Production and source
The film was Imamura's first feature in eight years, following *Black Rain* (1989)[8](https://kinemaclub.org/posts/1997-05-24-the-eel). The screenplay adapts Akira Yoshimura's short story *Yami ni Hirameku* (闇にひらめく), credited to Motofumi Tomikawa, Daisuke Tengan (also known as the director of *Trap*), and Imamura himself[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/). Shigeru Komatsubara served as cinematographer, Hajime Okayasu as editor, and Shinichirō Ikebe composed the music[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/) • [6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html). Production companies included Imamura Productions, KSS, Eisei Gekijo, and Groove Corp[6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html).
The eel continues a motif in Imamura's work: the carp in *The Pornographers* (1966) similarly served as a reincarnation figure and a reminder of an older order in which humans were no higher than the beasts around them[8](https://kinemaclub.org/posts/1997-05-24-the-eel). Critics also noted the film's old-fashioned technique, including voice-overs, flashbacks, and double exposures, which made it look out of place in the 1990s[8](https://kinemaclub.org/posts/1997-05-24-the-eel).
## Cannes and reception
At the 50th Cannes Film Festival in May 1997, the jury awarded the Palme d'Or jointly to *The Eel* and to Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's *Taste of Cherry*, a surprise decision announced by jury president [Isabelle Adjani](https://www.edgepedia.org/isabelle-adjani); the festival also gave a special 50th anniversary prize to Egypt's Youssef Chahine[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/the-eel-and-the-cherry-share-the-palm-in-cannes-1262346.html). Most critics at the festival had seen no outright favorite for the top prize[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/the-eel-and-the-cherry-share-the-palm-in-cannes-1262346.html). The 70-year-old Imamura, too tired to attend the ceremony, had learned of the award after returning to Japan[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-19-ca-60325-story.html) • [10](https://www.scmp.com/article/226017/ex-con-his-eel-and-other-slippery-relations).
Reactions among critics were divided. The *Los Angeles Times* critic Kenneth Turan, who covered the festival, wrote that the film tells its story of a man attempting a new life after prison "with the delicacy and skill of a master director"[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-19-ca-60325-story.html). Others were cooler: the *Irish Times* reported Western critics' dismissiveness toward both shared winners, and one festival reviewer called the film deeply disappointing despite its advance press[11](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/cannes-fall-out-1.77372) • [12](https://stevemunro.ca/wp-content/uploads/2006/01/ffest97.pdf). In Japan the film placed first in Kinema Junpo's 1997 Best Ten[2](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/).
In the United States, New Yorker Films released the film to a gross of $413.8K, and it holds an 83% Tomatometer score from 29 reviews with an 81% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel). A retrospective ranking of Palme d'Or winners by Tomatometer places it at number 58[13](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/all-palme-dor-winners-ranked/).
## Place in Imamura's career
The award made Imamura one of the few directors with two Palmes d'Or, following *The Ballad of Narayama* in 1983[4](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/the-eel/). His career, which began with *Stolen Desire* in 1958 and ran through *Pigs and Battleships* (1961), *The Insect Woman* (1963), *The Pornographers* (1966), *Vengeance Is Mine* (1979), and *Black Rain* (1989), returned repeatedly to murderers and humanity's brutish nature, and *The Eel* has been described as a poetical fable about a man's reconciliation with his past[14](https://www.filmfestival.be/en/film/the-eel-unagi) • [8](https://kinemaclub.org/posts/1997-05-24-the-eel) • [6](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html).
## References
1. [Palme d'or: the 1990s, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2020/palme-d-or-the-1990s/)
2. [うなぎ（1997）作品情報, 映画.com](https://cinema.eiga.com/movie/34922/)
3. [The Eel and the Cherry share the Palm in Cannes, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/the-eel-and-the-cherry-share-the-palm-in-cannes-1262346.html)
4. [The Eel, Cinémathèque québécoise](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/en/cinema/the-eel/)
5. [The Eel, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eel)
6. [The Eel, Festival des Cinémas d'Asie de Vesoul](https://archives.cinemas-asie.com/en/movies/item/3886-the-eel.html)
7. [The Eel, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0120408/credits/)
8. [The Eel, Kinema Club](https://kinemaclub.org/posts/1997-05-24-the-eel)
9. ['The Eel,' 'Taste of Cherries' Share Palme d'Or, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-19-ca-60325-story.html)
10. [The ex-con, his eel and other slippery relations, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/article/226017/ex-con-his-eel-and-other-slippery-relations)
11. [Cannes fall-out, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/cannes-fall-out-1.77372)
12. [Steve's Film Festival Reviews for 1997](https://stevemunro.ca/wp-content/uploads/2006/01/ffest97.pdf)
13. [Every Cannes Palme d'Or Winner Since 1955, Ranked by Tomatometer, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/all-palme-dor-winners-ranked/)
14. [The Eel (Unagi), Film Fest Gent](https://www.filmfestival.be/en/film/the-eel-unagi)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1990s › Drama films late 1990s › Released 1995 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license