Araburu tamashii-tachi (2001)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Shigenori Takechi (screenplay)
Shigenori Takechi (story)

Release Date:

30 March 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

thank you - and - fuck you - brother [Japan]

Plot Keywords:

Shooting | Beaten To Death | Kissing | Baseball Bat | Beer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Mickey Curtis	...	Yokomizo
Yoshiyuki Daichi
Hakuryu
Masatô Ibu
Renji Ishibashi
Akiko Kana		(as Yuko Ozeki)
Masaya Kato	...	Kunihiko
Aya Kawamura
Hiroki Matsukata	...	Kaito
Takashi Miike	...	Shinozaki
Ryôsuke Miki
Naoto Takenaka	...	Higuchi
Kôji Tsukamoto

Also Known As:

Agitator
The Outlaw Souls (poster title)

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Japan:R-15 | UK:18

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Movie Connections:

References Bijitâ Q (2001) (V)

A refreshing take on the mobster movie

I saw this movie as the last movie during the Rotterdam Film Festival, and was positively surprised by a story of values, moral, and ethics in the Japanese mobster scene without getting top-heavy. Even though action can be slow by European and US standards, this gives the movie that extra vibe that you can't expect from the next Lethal Weapon.

This could be a decent introduction into Japanese cinema, in the sense that it's not too heavy on the Japanese side, but still something a US director would never do (especially the slowed down shooting of one of the main characters leaves an impression).

8/10