Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on June 17, 2006 at 05:03:39

Takashi Miike ("Audition" was his breakthrough film for international audiences).
Shinjuku Triad Society
Rainy Dog
Ley Lines
Though they share no characters or plot lines, the above three are a real trilogy in that they show the underbelly of Japanese society, the Yakuza, and even more desolate, the societal wasteland inhabited by the Chinese immigrant.
Never has crime in general--- prostitution, drug use, gaming, murder, intimidation-torture--- been shown so unrelentingly. With very few filmmakers, the veil of artifice that cloaks the uglier reality of the most hideous of human behaviors is ripped off: Miike is the most daring, i.e. the most realistic.
Be prepared if you are new to his films: the editing and storytelling is original. Rather than tell a linear story, he often jumps to the next scene omitting the connecting thread and expecting the viewer to supply it. The effect is to force the viewer to a level of attention which magnifies and intensifies each scene.
The common conceit of the "noble" criminal fighting against evil police is absent: Miike is concerned with the violent relationships and the isolation of individuals both within their small ethnic groups and to the Yakuza (and Japanese society in general) without.
Disconcerting also is the almost complete absense of "character" scenes: the films move from action scene to action scene almost without a pause. It works because Miike has an unsurpassed skill in these scenes and what one learns about a character is gleaned from the actions and reactions of the characters.
Another word of caution: the films--- though shot in color--- purposefully have been developed to make the images extraordinarily dark: one strains as much to "decipher" what one is seeing as one does to follow the plot intricacies.
Miike may use artificial lighting... but I can't remember a specific scene in which he does. The street scenes appear to be filmed by just a cameraman, making them far more realistic: when one watches "big budget" films, one must make the effort to discount the people on the street that obviously are reacting to the filming of a scene. With Miike, no compromise is necessary: the "extras" are real people, reacting to "real" action.
Hate him or like him--- and there is no middle road with Miike--- you will be observing the work of one of the most original filmmakers alive.