Bullet Ballet (1998)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer:

Shinya Tsukamoto (writer)

Release Date:

18 December 1999 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A man sees his life changed for ever when his fiancee shoots herself. Baffled, he wants by all means...

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Punk | Director | Police | Tokyo Japan

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Shinya Tsukamoto	...	Goda
Kirina Mano	...	Chisato
Tatsuya Nakamura	...	Idei
Takahiro Murase	...	Goto
Kyoka Suzuki	...	Kiriko
Hisashi Igawa	...	Kudo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Katijah Badami
Gabriela Bravo
Rachele Fanedman
Eshragh Farshao
Tomisaburô Horikoshi
Teruhisa Irie
Chu Ishikawa
Kazuyuki Izutsu
Shin-Ichi Kawahara
Mekdachi Khalil
Sujin Kim
Yôko Kubota
Hisakatsu Kuroki
Hiromi Kuronuma
Arminda Ramos
Tomorowo Taguchi
Yukinobu Toda
Mika Tsuda
Masato Tsujioka
Kôji Tsukamoto
Chiko Ueda
Max Von Schuler
Kanta Wickramasinghe
Keisuke Yoshida

Directed by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinya Tsukamoto		writer

Produced by
Igarashi Maison	....	producer

Original Music by
Chu Ishikawa

Cinematography by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Film Editing by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Costume Design by
Hiroko Iwasaki

Makeup Department
Takashi Oda	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shin-Ichi Kawahara	....	assistant director
Takeshi Koike	....	assistant director
Hisakatsu Kuroki	....	assistant director
Kiyohide Ohtani	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mari Ehara	....	set dresser
Chie Horiuchi	....	set dresser
Tarô Hosono	....	set dresser
Akiko Kimura	....	set dresser
Manabu Yamamoto	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Kenji Shibazaki	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Tomoo Haraguchi	....	special effects makeup
Takashi Oda	....	dummy effects
Kan Takahama	....	model lead

Camera and Electrical Department
Takayuki Shida	....	assistant camera
Michiya Tenma	....	gaffer
Michiya Tenma	....	still photographer

Other crew
Tetsuya Tsuda	....	firearms

Production Companies

• Kaijyu Theater

Distributors

• Des Films (France) (DVD)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (France) (DVD)
• Swift Distribution (France)
• There's Enterprise (Japan)

Other Companies

• Active Cine Club (ACC) K.K.  special thanks
• Backup Service  art
• Doc Martens  costumes
• Fuji-Q Highland  location
• Imagica  development
• Inagawa Motoko Office  extras casting
• Joe Casely-Hayford  costumes
• Keihan Shoukai  costumes
• Kodak Japan  film
• Marantz  art
• Nonika  location
• Sanwa Cine Equipment  camera equipment provided by
• Token Boxing Gym  location
• Tsudô Kôbô  titles

Runtime:

87 min | Canada:90 min | Finland:98 min | Taiwan:88 min | Argentina:98 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 (DVD rating) | Taiwan:R-18 | France:-16 | Japan:R-15 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16

Company:

Kaijyu Theater

A stunning visual depiction of depression. Very Original.

A much more articulate Shinya has used his extremely visceral palette to produce a deeper film that passes over the gorehound's head and explores the scars of depression and self-destruction in ways that other film-makers have overlooked. From the beginning where Goda confronts his fiancee's death in a mirror while a cricket twitches under a dripping tap beneath him, to a deathwish game that the hoodlum girl Chisato plays later on in the subways, hooking her heels over the edge and delighting as the passing train throttle passes her, the imagery is amazing. Shot in intimate black and white, the graphic impact of its intense releases (There is a bit of animation on guns that's like a KMFDM video) hit you to hold you and keep you with the story until the end. At the screening I attended there were those who were disappointed that the violence lacked the kind of escapist punch that make other Hong Kong films so fun to watch, but I think Shinya was aiming for something different, and he succeeded. This is my favorite film of his and I definitely look forward to his next. For those trying to get an idea of what to expect, well it's the kind of surrealistic dreams that are often thought of by David Cronenberg and David Lynch. If you follow that path and walk with such minds than you should take a walk with Shinya Tsukamoto and see Bullet Ballet.