Fuyajo (1998)

Director:

Chi-Ngai Lee

Writers:

Seishu Hase (novel)
Chi-Ngai Lee (writer)

Release Date:

27 June 1998 (Japan)

Plot:

Kabukicho is a forgotten world. A place where people of different tongues and races meet, where they fight against each other to gain money...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Kenichi Ryuu
Mirai Yamamoto	...	Natsumi Sato
Kippei Shiina	...	Wu Fu-chun
Sihung Lung	...	Yang Weimin
Eric Tsang	...	Yuan Chenggui
Kathy Chow	...	Xiu Hong
Seijun Suzuki
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seishu Hase
Hiroko Hori
Akira Inoue
Akio Jô
Yoshimitsu Morita
Hidekazu Nagae
Toshiya Nagasawa
Ami Nishina
Ken Osamu
Yumeko Sasaki
Tomorowo Taguchi
Kenji Takano
Shosuke Tanihara
Hua Rong Weng

Also Known As:

Sleepless Town

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Japan

Language:

Japanese | Mandarin

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Asmik Ace Entertainment

Very well written and executed

Sleepless Town was a pleasant surprise for me, a well-written and well-executed film, with a gangster storyline containing enough twists to win a dance contest.

Kenichi (Kaneshiro) is a half-Japanese, half-Chinese man of the underworld. You can sell him anything except children's organs. His domain is in Kabukicho, a gangland controlled by various Shanghainese gangs intent on taking overall control. Things are calm, however, his former partner-in-crime, Fu-Chun, is rumoured to have returned to Kabukicho, having fled years earlier after killing the number two to gangland boss, Yuan (Tsang). Yuan wants to get even and attempts to do so by using Kenichi. Meanwhile, Fu-chun's girlfriend, Natsumi Sato (Yamamoto) turns up to sell something to Kenichi.

It's a complicated plot (not least to describe) and it is even more than I've said already. Plot twists are everywhere in this film, and it's been designed to keep you guessing. And what's more it works.

Takeshi Kaneshiro, heartthrob to millions of teenage girls in Asia, is perfect in his role with his trademark stone cold yet innocent manner. Meanwhile, Mirai Yamamoto, is simply brilliant in her role, keeping everyone guessing as to the motives of her character. And Eric Tsang demonstrates why he is everyone's favourite gangland boss (epitomised in the Infernal Affairs trilogy)

This is a fine movie, and whilst the multitude of unpredictable twists really do push the limits of the story. Any more, it would be incoherent.

Overall, it is a very good movie, and is well worth a watch. One to see.