Beautiful, stylish, and spectacular. It's not the way we usually use to describe mysteries. This one is an exception. Actually I saw both the original version released in Japan and the one released here in the States. The major difference between the two is the sound effect, and the cut was slightly different. As the results, the original one is more mysterious, and the latter is, ..., more beautiful. I'll highly recommend you take a look at the first one if you can find a copy and understand Japanese. Pay special attention to the sound effect and the ending. I think this is the best modern Japanese film (after the Akira Kurosawa era) you can find in America. Personally, I like the original Japanese version. The music isn't as beautiful as in American version, though. There is one final line being cut off in American version:
"Goodbye, Mr. Yokomizo."
The writer said this one last line to his publisher friend as the image disappeared. I think that is the point of the whole story, to make you not be able to tell what you just saw is for real or just a story. After all, the writer, and Yokomizo, were real people. Too bad, they cut the line off............
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