Rainy Dog

One of the first Takashi Miike movies I ever saw was 'Dead Or Alive' and shocked me because it didn't play by "the rules", adding unexpected surreal touches to the violent yakuza thriller genre. I reacted very negatively to the movie at the time, but I subsequently grew to admire it the more I got into Miike's groove. Now that I'm familiar with Miike's more extreme movies like 'Ichi The Killer' and 'Visitor Q' I'm prepared for just about anything, but I was once again a bit nonplussed the first time I watched 'Rainy Dog'. Not because it was outrageous, but because it wasn't. 'Rainy Dog' is nothing like Miike's other early yakuza movies like 'Fudoh: The New Generation' and 'Full Metal Yazuza'. Anyone expecting the ultra-violent action and crazy humour of those two will be disappointed. Instead 'Rainy Dog' is a slow, atmospheric character study, very serious and dark in tone. Miike regular Sho Aikawa plays Yuuji a low level hit man exiled in Tawain. Yuuji is depressed from the relentless rain and becoming increasingly alienated. He sees no reason to his monotonous existence. One day a former lover (his wife?) turns up with a young boy (his child? It's not clear) who she dumps. Yuuji ignores the child who camps outside his flat and tags along on his hits. The boy seems to slowly humanize him, as does a prostitute he becomes involved with, but perhaps it is too late. Yuuji's life of violence is about to catch up with him. Miike makes great use of the rain soaked locations, and the movie is interesting for the fact that apart from Aikawa and another one of his regular actors Tomorowo Taguchi the cast is Tawainese and much of the dialogue is in Mandarin. The soundtrack regularly features a Ry Cooder-like slide guitar, and overall the movie has more in common with Takeshi Kitano's yakuza movies that Miike's. 'Rainy Dog' isn't one of Miike's most outrageous movies but it's still recommended and shows a more thoughtful side to this amazing director.

Director Takeshi Miike takes a break from his usual trademark ultra-violent comic book style action to bring us this slow paced, yet interesting drama, portraying an ex-Yakuza hit-man exiled to Taiwan for reasons unknown. The rain throughout the movie not only sets the mood but also symbolises the monotony of normal, everyday life felt by the protagonist as a contrast to his previous life as a Yakuza. Coming to terms with his new life, he does small time hits for a local gang and manages to maintain some stability and a sense of purpose in the otherwise meaningless existence of a hit-man. However, his world is turned upside down when a woman he doesn't remember leaves him with a child who is supposedly his. As he goes about his business of contract kills, his newly acquired 'son' follows him with fascination, observing and mentally clinging onto his alleged father in a cold, lonely and rainy city. Things get even more twisted when he befriends a prostitute and here starts the mingling of this unlikely trio, a subtle touch, typical of the twisted world of Miike. Overall, a heart warming yet poignant drama depicting the harshness of life, comparable to Luc Besson's Leon or Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro no natsu.

Rainy Dog, part of Miike's Triad Society is a truly beautiful film. A lot of people are going to notice, and quite rightly, that it does not conform to the traditional Miike template. Instead it moves at a slow pace with long lingering shots of the rainy streets of Taipei. The action is restrained to only a few brief gun "battles" and a stabbing, but the film is not about violence. It is about the aftermath of violence. As one character says towards the end, it is about life, death and hate. There are no opportunities to glorify the violence and every murder carries with it intense and very real consequences.

The sound track flitters between Shinjuku Triad style electronic drum effects and keyboards and country style slide guitar which really hints at the films Western roots. Essentially it is a film about an outsider used to fending for himself who is forced to care about another person and in doing so realize the value of his own life. This is not a new format and is a storyline you can find in variation in many John Wayne movies, the difference here is that I bet you won't be expecting it in a film by the man who brought the world Fudoh or Ichi the Killer.

Before his turn in Dead or Alive, Sho Aikawa turns up here as ultra cool ex-Yakuza, Yuuji, who has retired to the back alleys of Taipei to earn money as a hit-man. Early on in the film a young child is left in his house by an unknown woman. At the heart of the film, and it is a genuine heart, is the relationship between Aikawa's character and his supposed son. Without wanting to give anything anyway, it is the developments between the two which make the final scene one of the most tense scenes I have seen in film for a long time. Rarely is an audience allowed to sympathies and care for characters in a film like Rainy Dog yet it is as if Miike deliberately wants to alter our expectations. It is through caring about the characters that you realize you want them to live happily ever after.

Tomorowo Taguchi, returning from his role as the psychotic Wang in Shinjuku Triad Society has a minor but important role in Rainy Dog. His obsessive pursuit of Sho Aikawa which we see has destroyed his life mirrors intelligently Aikawa's character who is also letting his obsessions drive him to ruin. Taguchi I consider to be one of the best Japanese actors in the last decade, he is certainly one of the most prolific, and here his meagre five or six scenes are infused with an energy which helps motivate the rest of the film. I am looking forward to the next film I see with him in.

I believe that Miike had to produce this film with a largely non-Japanese crew, it is a testament to his bravery as a film maker (I dare say few directors would risk such a venture) that Rainy Dog looks and feels as it does. There are a few moments when the sound does not quite match the action (check out Aikawa beating up Taguchi early in the film for some of the most bizarre punching sound effects) but the film as a whole does not suffer. I do not know whether it was a lack of Japanese crew and skills that led Miike to make a slower movie, if so, his ability to compensate is second-to none. Instead of trying to make viewers vomit (no sick bags dispensed at viewings of this film) Miike has done something that only Japanese directors seem willing to do (Takeshi Kitano or Takashi Ishii are prone to this) and that is to promote thought and feeling during a film that is essentially a "mobster" movie. There are few forgettable scenes and some are utterly heart wrenching (Aikawa sleeping indoors with a prostitute whilst his son sleeps under a blanket with a dog in the rain).

In honesty there is little I can say against Rainy Dog. It is a superb film, a moving film and one which will make you think long and hard. Above all else it will, like most Miike films, reinforce your sense of relief that somewhere there is someone with a brain making films with a brain. And a hell of a lot of style too.

The same day as watching Shinjuku Triad Society I continued with this one. It was a Japanese film special and I didn't read any background info before the movie whatsoever, but after STS (and Kuroshiya Ichi a month before) I decided to give a miss to all Miike films. Luckily I did not know this was Miike.

This was really a surprise noir after the no substance of the previous mentioned. A yakuza goes to Taiwan and works as a hit-man when suddenly his son is dumped upon him, a son he didn't know he had and doesn't want to have either. I don't want to give away much but the movie is dense with atmosphere and humour, it's easily his best alongside Audition, Birdpeople of China and The Negotiator. Akin for Takeshi Kitano, but definitely Miike.

The story centres on a failed yakuza that has been exiled to Taiwan and now provides a hit man service for local gang leaders. The backdrop is a rainy Taipei which throughout the film is hated by all of the main characters and is seemingly impossible to escape from (Interesting from a Japanese film maker). The hit man, Yuuji, (Sho Aikawa) has his life turned upside down by the arrival of his supposed son who is cast off by his mother, a woman Yuuji doesn't remember in any detail. Eventually paired up with a prostitute he meets along the way they are offered an escape from the lives they appear to hate. The story is brilliantly told both through a cinematography and script. The locations and indeed the weather play an important role in setting a mood and reflecting the troubled lives of the main characters. Yuuji and chen, Yuuji's son, (Played by Lianmei Chen) work together brilliantly. Chen is a mute but the thoughtful and pragmatic performance by Lianmei Chen means this does not hinder the empathy you can feel for the character. Sho Aikawa, although he has most of the screen time and very little script, plays Yuuji to perfection. This film is another example of why Miike is well respected as a film maker. The usual blood and revenge storyline is there, but with a plot that you need to see played out in full and characters who you care for throughout. It is an excellent example of how a film should be made to incorporate gripping drama into an ultra violent gangster movie. I would recommend anyone to watch Rainy Dog, it may not be typical Mike but it is defiantly Miike Gold.