Vital (2004)

Vital is a Japanese movie written and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. It screened at the Cannes Film Market on May 18, 2004 and was released by There’s Enterprise in Japan on December 11, 2004.

The film stars Tadanobu Asano as Hiroshi, a man who suffers from amnesia after being injured in a car accident. He becomes obsessed with medical texts and eventually enrolls in a medical school where he is tasked with dissecting the body of a young woman. Soon, he begins having strange dreams about a woman named Ryoko (Nami Tsukamoto).

One of Hiroshi’s classmates, Ikumi (KIKI), is intrigued by his passion and begins pursuing him. However, Hiroshi is too preoccupied with his work to return her feelings. He asks for special permission to dissect the body on his own, and as dreams intermingle with reality, he begins to unlock memories from his past.