Kuro no tenshi Vol. 1

In this film Takashi Ishii adds a plot and interesting characters to his trademark violence, and the result is a watchable movie. One develops an empathy for the psychopathic and moody Ikko, and wishes her great success in her Arthurian quest to kill everyone who has crossed her. Especially since they're nowhere near as stylish and attractive as she is. Worth viewing.

A nice memory of my teenage life when I saw this film on TV with my friends

Black Angel is very dark thrilling

But also exiting feeling, one didn't know what will happen for poor Ikko and her quest to find her identity or who killed her family.

But there are some awkward scenes and some scenes are too violent

but however there are some nice moment too, like when Ikko dance with her friend.

Bevare of some violent scenes for sensitive viewers but for those who love action films and thrillers is a must see

Takashi Ishii's Kuro No Tenshi is a good action film but borrows too many themes and ideas from better movies such as La Femme Nikita, Leon:The Professional and Naked Killer. Reona Hazuki is perfectly cast as Ikko, the child turned cold-blooded assassin who is out to revenge the murder of her Yakuza father. Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi is 'Jil' her Japanese-American companion who helps her on her mission and steals the movie with his street dancing moves and peculiar Japanese-English mixed-up dialog. Ishii seems to borrow a lot from the Hong Kong school of gunplay action which keeps the movie interesting but the story and plot drag at times and there are many odd moments of fancy such as Ikko and Jil's dancing sequence in a hotel room which seem a bit out of place but I guess breaks the gloomy and tense atmosphere of the story. Viewers may recoil at a couple of scenes but the movie is very tame when compared to movies such as the Killer or Hard Boiled. Tenshii is an interesting entry from Ishii who has a unique flair for visuals and style but it isn't the best of the genre.

This is part one of Takashi Ishii's "Black Angel" double feature. The two films aren't connected by characters, just a similar general plot focused on female killers. Both films have a low-budget feel to them, and evoke moods in much the same way that Wong Kar-Wai's "Chungking Express" films do.

Ishii really does a lot with this film even though it is considerably based on action movie cliches. Fortunately he manages to breathe some life into it with some excellent camera work (including a particularly well-filmed continuous shot), and the great performances of Riona Hazuki and Reiko Takashima (as the two main female protagonists).

One particular scene of note: Early in the film Ishii breaks up the heavy crime drama with a strangely placed song and dance number that is composed of one long 3 minute shot, from one angle. Very strange. It actually made me think of François Truffaut's "Shoot the Pianot Player." Early in that film a ridiculous dance number in the bar breaks up the tension in much the same way.

Black Angel is a film that represents the best of what Japanese contemporary cinema can be. It is that rare thing - an action movie that contains depth, character and intellect. The characters are all fully rounded, fleshed out and fallible. They are shades of grey, rather than black or white, and this ambivalence only lends to their realism. They even have to take time to recover after they receive a beating! It is a testament to Takashi that he can produce such empathy for these characters. His direction is polished and at times superb. One scene employs a single 8 minute take with no edits to emphasize the effect of relativity that the protagonist must be encountering on her fruitless attempts to escape and it is inspired. Takashi's trademark use of wide angle lenses is also at an apex in this movie, serving to enhance the effect of bodily movements while at the same time trapping the characters between the foreground and background, thereby outlining their plight (their lack of freedom is rooted in their desire to fulfil their destiny yet at the same time despising what they do). The violence is balletic and certainly tips it's hat to the Hong Kong heroic bloodshed movies of John Woo, et al but Takashi manages to make the set pieces his own by incorporating these formalistic camera techniques into realistic circumstances to draw the viewer into the world he has created. This is similar to Scorcese's "Raging Bull" where extremely formalistic techniques create a very realistic impression on the audience. The story deals with some familiar themes from Japanese cinema (revenge, rape, male-female power relations, etc...) and Takashi's use of motifs helps to relate the characters to one another and outline their connections. Even the title relates to the dichotomy facing our protagonist. The internal conflict of Ikko is mirrored by the external conflicts upon which she embarks. Black Angel is well conceived, well shot and well acted and deserves to be ranked among contemporary Japanese cinema's finest.