Shinjuku kuroshakai: Chaina mafia sensô

Shinjuku Triad Society, albeit from perfect, is a fiercely compelling film for what it tries to depict in its uber-conventional realm. It's a yakuza/triad picture, involving cops versus Japanese &/or Chinese gangsters (mostly Chinese, as the title suggests), but already even in his first technical 'debut', Takashi Miike is already establishing many aspects to films that he would make from here-on in. Social issues like black market trading of precious goods, in this case human organs usually from children; nostalgia for childhood and one's roots, which was especially prevalent in Dead or Alive 2; thumbing-of-the-nose at taboos like gay sex and (satirical) rape/violence towards women; blood-curdling violence. It's certainly not as surreal as some of Miike's most recent films, but this is expected as he's trying out things that he's just starting to learn, following a track record of straight to video programmers. It's got all of those qualities, and it's also, like the films that would follow from it, equally savage and heartfelt, crazy (in spots) and sardonic in its drama, and solid for genre fans.

The story concerns two brothers, one a Chinese orphan raised in Japan, Tatsuhito Kiriya (Kippei Shiina, pretty decent as a Eastwood-esquire anti-hero/hero), who's become a detective, and another, who's become a gangster, or a would-be one. The main arch likely takeover gang comes from Wang (a definite pun on what the gang represents during its spare-time, played by Tomorowo Taguchi as a typical wacko with real terror in his eyes), and his partner Karino (Takeshi Caesar, who's threatening even when just repeating a commandment over and over to a woman who's just had her eye plugged out following a sour deal), who are the ruthless kind to pop up almost organically in a Miike movie. There's some intrigue involving the organ-trading scheme with the gangsters, which Kiriya almost becomes a victim of, and the gang's penchant for gay sex- at least with one little puppet of sorts who does whatever the main gangsters want. It all leads up to vengeance and redemption, qualities that Miike and his writer are trying to emulate from Shakespeare (hence the Macbeth bit with Wang washing his bloody hangs over and over after some gay sex saying "it won't come off").

If it doesn't add up to the same emotional level of impact that a great Shakespeare play would have, it's par for the course of a film like this. Miike's goals are met, though just met, in his low-scale ambitions: a gangster picture with some added levels of harsh familial trouble (the main tension between the brothers comes out of profession and duty to parents), notes on the crueler aspects of underworld crime, and what the realm of unrepentant sex, with both sexes, brings out psychologically in the characters. At the same time, Shinjuku Triad Society also contains more than a few moments of classic biting black-comedy from the Miike oeuvre. Some of it just has to be taken with a grain of salt for what the director does in his outrageousness, like the bit at the beginning with the chair smashing over the face, or the randomness of the "interrogation" as it goes into a very twisted area. There's even a laugh-out-loud line from the young sex-slave after finishing an act on one of the bosses: "Thank you, Mr. Weeny-Burger." Miike and his writer don't have enough here to make the film a full-on dark comedy like Ichi or, of course, Visitor Q, but there's enough to bring some appropriate levity to the darker aspects to the story and characters.

As the first entry of the "Black Society" trilogy, as it's called, I was quite impressed, and it's a fine quasi-calling card from one of the craziest new artists in contemporary cinema.

The world of Takashi Miike's cinema is an abstract and ever conflicting one; moving from moments of gritty realism, character depth and almost tranquil beauty, to jarring elements of outlandish violence, tongue-in-cheek humour and outrageous visual exaggeration. This continual juxtaposition of tone can be problematic for some viewers, as the film announces itself as a serious, worthy crime picture, only to then undercut this notion with a flash-cut of a forensic detective offering peace signs as he poses with a severed head. This continual approach of more serious, dramatic moments undermined or subverted by remnants of mocking humour is emblematic of Miike's work, and can be seen in many of his greatest films, such as Ley Lines (1999), Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000) and the masterpiece Visitor Q (2001). It's an approach to cinema that seems deliberately intended to challenge the preconceptions of an audience and to provoke an immediate reaction (often through shock), which can be further witnessed in the director's often bold disregard for the notions of genre convention or traditional narrative design.

With Shinjuku Triad Society (1995) we see many of these ideas and characteristics in their earliest stages of consideration, with the film in some respects establishing Miike for the first time as a serious filmmaker of bold intent and critical worth. Though it lacks the obvious finesse and sterling confidence of his later work, it is, nonetheless, an important film, worthy of repeated viewings and serious critical analysis. As ever with the director, the film focuses on elements of the criminal underworld, here the "black society" of downtown Shinjuku, with loyalty, betrayal, honour and responsibility all driving the plot forward towards a violent and confrontational finale. We also have the inclusion of one of Miike's favourite dramatic motifs, the idea of the outcast within society, with the combining influence of geographical displacement and the search for somewhere to belong - often manifested in the representation of family - becoming central to the duality of the relationship between both criminal and cop. These themes would be further defined in the two subsequent films that would eventual come to form the backbone of this loose, thematic trilogy; with the themes of Shinjuku Triad Society leading off into Rainy Dog (1997) and the aforementioned Ley Lines.

The film could also be seen as a run through for the more elaborate and post-modern experimentation of the original Dead or Alive (1999), with the cop vs. criminal aspect of the story being the catalyst for the drama, despite the apparent fact that both of these particular characters are as flawed and viciously corrupt as one another. Once again with Miike we have a series of vague characterisations that suggest a background and personality through scenarios and brief, enigmatic images; for example, the quick cut of the small boy sat melancholy in the yard of a low-rent tenement that we see right near the beginning of the film - establishing the themes behind the story on an entirely cryptic and puzzling note - which is repeated again towards the end of the film to offer an implied sense of closure. This will no doubt prove problematic for some viewers, who demand closure or a character that we can root for and identify with, but as ever, Miike is unconcerned with such routine presentations and instead gives us two warring characters that are both morally repugnant, yet ultimately sympathetic, almost in equal measures.

The tone and presentation of the film is provocative throughout, with Miike underlining the violence of the world in which the film plays out by abstracting it to near comic-book like levels of excess. It's never as bold or as farcical as something like Ichi the Killer (2001), though we can clearly see an attempt on the part of the director to establish an attitude and approach that undercuts the grittier elements of drama to instead present something almost otherworldly (again, this was done more successfully in the underrated Ley Lines). Nonetheless, it can be seen as another example of Miike's subversive approach to cinema, disarming us through shock scenes and outré moments of pitch-black comedy that seem almost purposely out of place within the world of gang war and routine police investigations. It's the kind of film in which scenes of lengthy dialog discussion give way to scenes of gay rape, gunplay and a subplot involving Taiwanese orphans and organ transplants, where the main villain is an eye-gouging, homosexual exhibitionist and the main representation of the law thinks nothing about raping a prostitute or smashing her in the face with a steel chair.

Certainly, it won't please everyone - with the disregard for logic and convention going against our preconceptions of this kind of genre - though again, the film is ultimately beyond such notions. Despite the gangland theatricality and obvious crime-thriller aspects of the plot, Shinjuku Triad Society has deeper themes expressed within the odd similarities between the wayward police officer and the perverted criminal that goes back to the ideas of loneliness, alienation and the longing to fit in. The film ends on a sad note, leaving unanswered questions about the fate of the characters or the actions that led to the climactic revelation, but with the clear implication that the thing we most desire is always slightly out of reach. It may not be as polished or as successful as some of the director's other films - with the obvious low-budget and perhaps lack of experience clear within some elements of the script - nonetheless, this is one of Miike's most interesting and thought-provoking films, made all the more worthwhile by the two excellent central performances from Kippei Shiina and Tomorowo Taguchi.

A lot has been said about Shinjuku Triad Society as the first true "Miike" film and I thought this sort of description might have been a cliché. But, like all clichés, it is based on the truth. All the Miike trademarks are here, the violence, the black humour, the homosexuality, the taboo testing and the difficult to like central character. Shinjuku is however, one of Miike's most perfectly formed films. He says in an interview that if he made it again it would be different, but not necessarily better. I think what he means is that the film possesses a truly captivating energy and raw edge which seems so fresh that although he might be able to capture a more visually or technically complex movie he could not replicate or better the purity of this film.

As you might expect, the violence is utterly visceral, gushing blood and gritty beatings are supplemented by a fantastic scene in which a woman has a chair smashed over her face. (Only a Miike film could let you get away with a sentence like that.) The film has a fantastic pace, unlike Dead or Alive which begins and ends strongly and dips in the middle. Dead or Alive also deals with similar issues, Miike is clearly concerned about the relations between the Japanese and Chinese in the postwar period and this emotive subject is handled well here, the central character really coming to life when you begin to understand his past.

I cannot sing Shinjuku's praises enough. I do not want to give away too much. This is Miike before he began to use CGI to animate his films and is almost reminiscent of something like Kitano's Sonatine. The central characters are superbly realized and the final twist guarantees that as soon as the film has finished you'll be popping it back on again to work it all out.

Shinjuku Triad Society: Chinese Mafia Wars is unlikely to get distribution in the West outside film festivals. Why? Could your censors stomach a film where policemen anally rape male and female suspects to get them to talk (and the victims enjoy it) or see an old lady have her eye torn out of her skull? These are just a few of the shocks in store for viewers of this ultraviolent cops and gangsters story. It makes Clockwork Orange which was banned for years in the UK look like a Disney cartoon.

Should you see this film? YES It is fantastic and essential viewing for fans of Asian cinema. The shocking moments are there to illustrate what goers on in the world of these characters. If you like this make sure you catch Dead or Alive which is very similar (barring the insane ending in DOA of course). Great for Japan that they have a talent like Miike working at the same time as Takeshi Kitano. The best chance of seeing this film outside a Takashi Miike retrospective at a film festival is on DVD. If I haven't put you off try hunting for a Hong Kong version on the web as I'm sure it will come out in that country.

I found this a bit hard to follow to the extent that it seemed to dip in the middle while I tried to make head or tail of who was fighting who and why. One of the problems is the cultural/language one. Here we have a Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese problem of which we know little and because we are simply reading English subtitles inevitably loose some of the subtleties. Another problem is that there seem to be just too many only half explained twists and coincidences. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that there is a wholly bad Miiki film and this certainly is not that. Plenty of stylish and bone crunching violence, a window upon some less than orthodox sexual goings on plus the family aspect. All in all a decent ride but maybe checking out the storyline might actually be helpful before watching this one. PLEASE SEE later re-appraisal 11/2/19