''Iron Maze'' is a 1991 Japanese and American film directed by Hiroaki Yoshida and executive produced by

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

, starring Jeff Fahey, Bridget Fonda, Hiroaki Murakami, and J.T. Walsh. Based on

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He took his own life at the age ...

's story '' In a Grove'' (the same short story that was used for Kurosawa's ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a ...

''), this contemporary re-telling shifts the action to a Pennsylvania 'Rust Belt' town.

Plot

The son of a Japanese billionaire is injured in an abandoned steel mill he bought in a Pennsylvania town. The police discover it might not be an accident when they start questioning the people in the town.

Cast

* Jeff Fahey as Barry Mikowski * Bridget Fonda as Chris Sugita * Hiroaki Murakami as Junichi Sugita * J.T. Walsh as Jack Ruhle *

Carmen Filpi Carmen Filpi (March 22, 1923 – May 9, 2003) was an American character actor who starred in films and on television. Biography His first acting job was in the 1969 film ''Wild Gypsies''. He also starred in '' The Ice Pirates'' (1984), '' Pee-We ...

as Charlie * Gabriel Damon as Mikey

Reception

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called it "''Rashomon'' in the Rust Belt".

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said it was a "leading entry in the looniest movie of the year sweepstakes."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0102128 1991 films 1991 thriller films American thriller films English-language Japanese films Japanese thriller films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Japanese films English-language thriller films