Gonin 2

This sequel to the surprise hit Gonin features a largely female cast, but like the first Gonin movie, the blood and slaughter are not gratuitous - a rare thing in Japanese cinema - but rather the inevitable result of somewhat justified anger at a flawed society. Unlike the first film, in which five unemployed men tried to rob the Yakuza out of desperate need, the motivations here are not economic. The women all have grudges related to the role of women in Japanese society and the callousness of those around them. It is the social awareness of gender roles that gives the drama its power here, and makes this movie something other than just another shoot-it-out-with-the-Yakuza thriller. The action centers on a jewelry store in the middle of a robbery, where chance throws five women together; how they respond puts them onto a downward spiral of inevitable violence. The grim tone is well counterpointed by the monochromatic visuals; everything has a dusty look to it, and the world of the film seems always to be in half darkness. Bright lights and friendly colors are for other people, just as happy, fulfilling lives are for other people.