Review | CANIBA: For What Do You Crave?

The world that birthed Caniba made empathy difficult but disturbingly possible

In struggling to find the right words to form the thesis and body of this review, I engaged in an exercise of self-conversation — which I am oft to do when left nearly speechless. What was the (irrelevant but helpful) intent of Caniba? Do we identify with the subject(s) or be greatly offended? Can both feelings occur at once? Was this exploitation of some sort? All I could figure out for myself was that I was left aghast at the film, determined to fit in on my favorites of 2018 list (and in a high spot) but hurting to find a proper defense.

Then, I looked up Scout Tafoya’s thoughts on the movie for RogerEbert.com:

I don’t know that what we need right now is to sympathize with monsters. Maybe in a decade I’ll be ready to treat “Caniba” fairly. Right now, all I can think about is that Renée Hartevelt won’t get a movie.

Renee being the silent (and forgotten) victim of the cannibalistic “crime of passion” by Caniba’s central figure Issei Sagawa, who was declared insane and sent to Japan for a remaining life of cashing in on his notoriety (ala O.J. Simpson but far worse). Taking the film on — a documentary/dramatic narrative hybrid told with brilliantly limited but complex photography — by the information it presents, I had no…