Kikoku (Video 2003)

Two brothers in a very small branch of the Japanese crime syndicate must make a hard choice when their loyalties are stretched in too many directions.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Shigenori Takechi (screenplay), Shigenori Takechi (story)

Stars:

Riki Takeuchi, Yûta Sone, Mickey Curtis

Cast

Credited cast:
Riki Takeuchi	...	Seiji
Yûta Sone	...	Yoshi (as Hideki Sone)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mickey Curtis	...	(as Mikkî Kâchisu)
Ken'ichi Endô
Renji Ishibashi
Kôichi Iwaki
Hiroshi Katsuno
Ryôsuke Miki
Yasukaze Motomiya
Kazuya Nakayama
Yôko Natsuki
Mikio Ohsawa	...	(as Mikio Oosawa)
Gorô Oohashi
Tetsurô Tanba
Columbia Top	...	Millionaire (as Koronbia Toppu)

Storyline

Seiji and Yoshifumi are the only members of the Muto branch of the Date Family. The two respect and love their leader, Mr. Muto, like a father and the three share a firm bond. But their fate is sealed when the Family is involved in a conflict. Muto is unable to pay his share of funds for the oncoming battle but tells executives of the Family that he would fight at the front line instead. In the wish to protect Muto, Seiji has him arrested by the police. Ignoring the Family executives' mocks of "Muto escaped to prison", Seiji prepares for the battle and attacks like a demon on behalf of his boss...

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Genres:

Action | Crime

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Details

Official Sites:

official webpage [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 June 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Yakuza Demon

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Port, Sedic

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

This is actually one of Miike's best films...

Those who criticize this as a minor Miike films are missing the point of this film. This film should not be compared to the DEAD OR ALIVE films, ICHI THE KILLER or FUDOH or any of the hyper manga-style Miike film. Instead, KIKOKU draws from Miike's grittier, melancholic, more classic crime dramas like RAINY DOG, LEY LINES and BLUES HARP. In my opinion, Miike does this kind of film as well or better than the ones he best known for. These films are the ones that put Miike in the league with Kinji Fukasaku and possibly above Beat Takeshi -- and not really the manga ones.

I like this kind of film because it is so pure -- so classic in its crime fatalism -- like a great American noir of the late 40s or 50s or a great French gangster flick from the 30s. Like the other films mentioned above, at the heart of this film is an unlikely love story which makes up the eye of the deadly hurricane that is Miike's take on the violent Yakuza underworld. On the surface the plot is very similar to DEADLY OUTLAW REKKA, but while DOR is fast and fun, KIKOKU is the doomed, tragic version of that film. It's a more serious film that should be taken seriously as one of Miike's best -- and one of Riki Takeuchi's best as well.