[Macau International Film Festival Watching] Japanese director Takashi Miike, who has always pursued violence and blood as his aesthetic pursuit, actually shoots pure love story themes? At first, this film was shortlisted for this year's "Directors' Fortnight" in Cannes this year. The film was screened on a weekend night, and I was fortunate to watch the film with the director and several leading actors. Before the screening, the host on the stage repeatedly emphasized that this is a movie that is very suitable for watching on weekend nights, because It allows you to forget the troubles and pressures of a week of work in unexpected plots and sudden joyful atmospheres. In my opinion, this fun and exciting underworld comedy is not only an arbitrary creation of Takashi Miike's return to his true colors, but also a bold type experiment to expand the pattern of traditional Japanese gangster types.
The whole story takes place in one night. With the background of the local Japanese and Chinese underworld warfare, the undercover gangsters colluded with the police and planned to kidnap their own people for extortion. Unexpectedly, the plan was revealed and concocted a series of jokes. On the other hand, the hot-blooded fighter protagonist who is facing a terminal illness and the compensated dating heroine who bears the shadow of domestic violence after blind hitting accidentally gets involved in the underworld disputes, each other in love and unfolds the clues of love. This weird script is full of strong collage. The connection between the pure love festival and the main line of the underworld is rather blunt, and there is a sense of fracture that cannot be ignored. In terms of character depiction, there are comic-style exaggerations, especially the two supporting roles of Someya Shota and Becky are particularly prominent. They contracted most of the laughter in the play and almost completely concealed the love story of the hero and the heroine.
It wasn't until the director showed off his signature bloody violence and Quentin's bantering humor that this long-lost midnight cult film really made the audience feel extremely hearty and hearty. Violent aesthetic demonstrations followed one after another: beheading, severed hands, katana, speeding, gunfighting... The climax part of the scene even showed a difficult speeding scene in the form of animation, which made the audience boiled and stunned. Although Director Miike tried various interesting ideas in order to attract a new generation of audiences, the final plot reversal did not forget the original intention to return to the common "benevolence and justice", whether it was the scene where the Chinese underworld and the heroes and heroines met. , Or the surreal ending of the gangster voluntarily taking responsibility.
The film’s sense of balance between the three different styles of pure love, crazy comedy and Japanese underworld genre is somewhat biased. I feel that Director Miike is better at grasping the speed and rhythm of underworld comedy, but when it turns to the male and female protagonists, the emotional line becomes sluggish. . Fortunately, the last part of the film rises to the level of life perception through the love of the two, which effectively enhances the theme of the film. To be able to shoot such a positive and optimistic attitude towards life and an atmosphere of tenderness and affection in gangster movies, I believe that few directors in today's film world can go astray like Takashi Miike.
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