Intentions of Murder is by Shohei Imamura, one of the most
creative directors of Japan’s silver age—a period that
runs from about the mid ’60s to the early ’80s. In his work,
primitive forces clash with the law and order of industrial civilization. Intentions of Murder (about a tyrannical librarian
and his wife’s decision to leave him and kill her rapist) is the sixth
film in a two-week series of his work at Northwest Film Forum. Imamura
filmed his society—its forces and ruptures—with a style
that’s liberating. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave,
800-838-3006. 6:30 and 9:15 pm, $5–$8.50.)