Kamikaze takushî

'Kamikaze Taxi' opens with a newsreel-style prologue examining the conditions of South American immigrants of Japanese origin, who have returned to Japan only to find unemployment and discrimination. The prologue moves on to cover the contemporary (as of 1995) state of Japanese government, and then proceeds into a film which depicts political corruption and its effect on Japan's cultural climate.

On the surface, however, it is a crime film in the vein of those by Tarantino or Kitano, and like those films, it motors with a beat that's both gritty and stoic. It is frank about both its violence and the commercial sex it depicts, and its story begins with a young yakuza named Tatsuo whose job is to procure and train prostitutes for the crooked, lascivious Senator Domon. After the violent demise of a prostitute dear to Tatsuo, the story begins to fork excitedly in new directions, part road movie, and part gangster film. The moral center of the film becomes Kantake, a Japanese-Peruvian immigrant to Japan who speaks badly broken Japanese and has a gentleness that's deceptive to the film's tough guys; when forced to use violence, he does, but only when necessary.

The movie is sometimes faintly, pleasantly elegiac, and if there's any flaw, it's that it often seems a bit labored, its execution lacking the confidence of its overall ambition. Still, it's rousing and original, and by the film's end, one is left with the impression of a poetic arc and a righteous anger.

From the blurb on the box or the website where I ordered it from, I was mostly expecting KAMIKAZE TAXI to be little more than a festival of violent revenge - and I suppose the name of the film helped with that impression too. First indicator that there might be a little more than that was that it's from the director of BOUNCE KO GALS (Masato Harada), and the second was that it's nearly 3 hours long. The fact I now know that "Kamikaze" means something like "Wind Of God" perhaps shows that the film is a little more than a blood-fest. In fact it's a lot more, a film that spans genres and moods and philosophies and all sorts of things - quite a rare, meandering beast that calls to mind Shunji Iwai's SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY in its scope and capacity for surprise. I was also reminded at various points of Takeshi Kitano's SONATINE, Takashi Miike's DEAD OR ALIVE 2, Shohei Imamura's UNAGI and Shinji Aoyama's EUREKA... tribute to the diversity and depth of the film (or perhaps the presence of actor Koji Yakushu for the latter 2 references :p).

The film begins in a pseudo-documentary style, commenting on the presence in Japan of people of Japanese descent but with foreign upbringing, and how they are not looked upon as "true Japanese" by many of those that presumably view themselves thus. It also makes references to Japan's less than noble involvement in World War II, and the fact that many in Japan are still in denial about it - including some of the politicians. It notes that these Japanese immigrants, politicians with a knack for denial and the numerous Yakuza in the country might not all cross each other's paths that often, but that this particular film revolves around a situation where they do.

Trying to explain the plot is probably counter-productive, but it has a bit of "take the money run", and when the running doesn't work out too well it has a bit of "kamikaze revenge mission" - but it's definitely not that straightforward. How many other films with those genre-staple premises would stop after some scenes and film interviews with the side-characters that took place in them, documentary style? (note that it's interviews with the characters, not the cast). The film makes a very strong effort to develop and explore its characters, even having them spend 20 minutes or so doing self-awareness exercises in a spa.

Like Shunji Iwai's SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY, I picked up the film not expecting much of anything, and was quite astounded by how much I actually got from watching it. I'm therefore somewhat reluctant to sing its praises too highly in case other people pick it up on my recommendation then don't enjoy it for expecting too much. I'm sure not everyone is going to like it - it's

a very quirky, contemplative film whose chief virtue in my eyes is never being predictable in 169 minutes. It's *very* Japanese, and deals with many issues of Japanese culture that might not mean anything to people who aren't aware of them - so it's not one I'd pick to introduce anybody to Japanese cinema. But if you've seen and loved SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY, and at least 2 or 3 of the other films I mention above, you should definitely be planning to pick KAMIKAZE TAXI up soon.

At almost three hours one might imagine this would be a very slow haul but I hadn't realised the length at the start and never felt it drag. I think in retrospect it probably should be tightened a little, maybe some of the surreal stuff at the hot spar, because I feel I want to watch it again immediately but the length now seems daunting. How silly. Anyway what starts off as a fairly standard Tarantino influenced yakuza movie develops very much a style and pace of it's own. Lovely wry humour and acute and memorable observations. Dealing with yet another of Japan's guilty secrets, this time the fate of Japanese brought up with one or other parents was a Brazilian or in this case Peruvian migrant worker, before they decided they didn't need them any more. So this convoluted tale is hard to convey in a few words but is certainly violent, gentle, blunt and poetic. Much use is made of the Japanese outdoors for a change and there is always something happening or about to happen and always most involving and likable. Even the pipe music was enjoyable!

Kamikaze Taxi is a quirky, innovative social satire that is well worth watching only if you are open to seeing a different style of film. This is certainly not the usual Hollywood action film but more for the art-house cinema-buff crowd who enjoy cult films.

The aspect of Japanese living in Peru and Brazil is in itself intriguing. There are the cultural differences and insights into racial problems which offer an interesting mix. Viewers who peer beyond the violence and sex in this film will find much to rouse their intellect.

This film is unique in how it weaves various fabrics of life that are normally separate and often contradictory. For example, we hear magical Peruvian pan pipes played by a Japanese man standing, not high in the Andes, but in a lush green Brazilian forest. The spiritual yearning of this musician contrasts sharply with the ugly violence and betrayal of those near to him in the beautiful forest.

The film is in Japanese, and obviously delivers its message to Japanese society. Keep this in mind when considering the tragedy, humour, corruption, naivety, idealism, contradictions and poetic style that this film portrays so well. What does this say about the Japanese character? Is it true also for those of us who are not Japanese? Gather your friends and discuss such questions over cups of capuccino or glasses of brandy. There is more to this film than first meets the eye.

Works Well on Many Levels

At first what attracted me to this film was its cool title - Kamikaze Taxi. While I expected an action-packed Yakuza movie, what I got was much, much more.

Corrupt politicians, dispossessed ethnic citizens, young Yakuza wannabees, action, killings, street life in modern Japan, reconciliation with Japan's involvement in WWII. There are many elements thrown together in this movie, and it does a good job dealing with them in a coherent story that will keep your interest for the length of the movie.

On the surface it is a story of a young Yakuza, Tatsuo, exacting revenge against a corrupt politician for beating up his girlfriend/prostitute who is later killed by a Yakuza shylock. Tatsuo and his other neophyte Yakuza buddies blunder into stealing a great deal of money from a crime boss. With the assistance of an ethnic Japanese taxi cab driver born in Peru, Tatsuo flees and attempts to avenge the killing of his girlfriend.

Social issues relevant to Japan at the time Kamikaze Taxi abound. In the early 1990s, Japan was rocked with corruption in high office, both in the mainland and abroad. In Peru an ethnic Japanese politician, Alberto Fugimori, was President, and he was plagued throughout his term and ultimately ousted by charges of corruption. These two events are alluded to in the movie.

The politician in this movie, Domon, is a survivor from WWII, a former Kamikaze fighter. Not only is he prejudiced, but he is also morally depraved, sadistic, and virulently chauvinistic. That prejudice is aimed as well to the taxi cab driver, who while ethnically Japanese, is looked upon as a second-class citizen. While practically unknown outside of the country, the issue of migrant Japanese citizens is a burning issue in Japan.

If there is a downside to the movie it is the numerous subplots and other twists and turns. There are many and they are diverse. To some, the sheer number of elements may drag the momentum of the action. Director Masato Harada (who played the character of Omura, the pro-West advisor to the Emperor of Japan in The Last Samurai) ties all these elements very well, however, which gel together quite nicely through most of the movie.

The movie jumps the shark a bit when Tatsuo and the taxi cab driver stumble into an encounter group session in a foothill retreat.

This is a minor defect. Harado finds a way to tie in this encounter group into the story line. Besides, this is not your average Yakuza film with disposable, one-dimensional characters. The actors play complex characters with depth in a well-written, thoughtful, sometimes contemplative, script.

This movie has the force of a Miike Yakuza movie, and displays flashes of craft and subtle humor enough to justify repeated viewings. Even at over two and a half hours you will not be dissatisfied.