Tokyo Fist

This is not a movie you experience with the brain, rather it's an assault on the senses. Some of my favourite cinema does that, and I'm always on the lookout for movies that call us to live through a certain experience, to vicariously sense the world as another person might. The ultimate joy is for me to be able to take out something that matters, an otherwise impossible view of the world in my livingroom that makes sense.

The problem of Tokyo Fist is that it's packed with so much rage and annihilation yet aims it nowhere. The boxer characters are punching, but they're not punching outwards, at society, nor inwards at the soul, they're simply pummeling and being pummeled senseless. Senseless is an apt word here, for in Tokyo Fist the mind doesn't matter, and the human body is something to be destroyed, the senses torn from it and thrown in a bloody heap on a grimy floor. Tsukamoto can be seen beating his head in a bloody pulp against a wall, but that wall signifies nothing. The spurts of blood gushing from broken noses and deformed bonecheeks, the film celebrates with the comic verve of Sam Raimi.

With time Tsukamoto would grow out of the techno angst of this period, but enabling the maturity of films like Vital, a certain youthful vitality had to be sacrificed in the process. I lament this because few directors dare make films like his, even Tsukamoto himself doesn't seem able to make them anymore.

Fits of jealousy, miserable love triangles, personality changes, all these are trifle story points. What I take from Tokyo Fist is the aimlessness of violence, taken to the extreme because there's nothing to absorb it. Likely Tsukamoto grew up in a Japanese society of the 80's and 90's, like the rest of the world, stifled in the mire of apathy and complacency. People had the money to buy and the selection to buy from, but not the struggle with grand ideals. The resulting New Wave of his cinema is a New Wave of disillusionment turned against itself, a shell without a solid core to make it dream a better society.

In this light, it makes sense to see Tsukamoto playing a young employee, fresh out of high school and already into a suit and a tie running errands for a faceless corporation, turning into a crazed animal for whom even love is a petulant obsession, another passing need to be consummated.

Lest one think subject matter grounded in real life, like boxing and interpersonal drama, would temper Tsukamoto Shinya's unmistakable style of film-making, let's lay those thoughts to rest right now. We're treated to the same rapid cuts that result in a frenetic look and feel, and loose, handheld camerawork that feels informal, personal, and confrontational, and which further lends to that frenetic tenor. We absolutely get some blood and gore among other stunts and practical effects, and the quick sequences of stop-motion animation that he perfected in his famous breakthrough 'Tetsuo: The iron man,' not to mention very specific choices of lighting to help foster dark overtones. For good measure, add in an original score that often directly or indirectly echoes the harsh industrial music proliferate in the man's best known works; industrial, brutalist, or urban imagery; and enthusiastic overacting wherever it may be appropriate. 'Tokyo fist' may play in a different genre space, but Tsukamoto's stamp is all over it, even including a subtler variation on the theme of transformation that is paramount in a fair portion of his oeuvre.

With all this well in mind I can understand how the filmmaker's tendencies won't appeal to all comers, and I'm not about to sit here and say that the picture is a pure must-see. There are also small touches of homophobia scattered herein that really haven't aged well; this may have been the 90s, but folks should know better. All the same II find myself rather pleased with how good it is, and I think Tsukamoto's brand of film-making and storytelling manages to work pretty well in this instance. The root story is a suitable melodrama in which outwardly mild-mannered office worker Tsuda comes into conflict with old friend Kojima, chiefly but not exclusively over beautiful Hizuru. Layered atop this foundation are the efforts by all three characters to wildly remake themselves, and with the flourishes for which Tsukamoto is known, the resulting tableau is characterized in large part by the vibes that conventionally belong to more violent, far-flung, action-packed genres. It's an interesting blend that shifts somewhat between tones, but it all fits together surprisingly well.

I do think the writing is uneven and imperfect - maybe even ultimately a little unsophisticated, truthfully - and the storytelling could have been tightened and refined. This applies to the filmmaker's sequencing, too, which seems a smidgen disjointed. Be that as it may, the core of the feature is marvelously strong. The central narrative is compelling and satisfying, and more than it may seem at first blush; the scene writing is smart and flavorful. As Tsukamoto wears multiple hats, as he commonly does with his endeavors, his versatility is without question, including his direction and cinematography. Especially as the journeys of their characters more or less escalate in the latter half I think the cast give excellent, vibrant performances to bring their characters and the story to life, quite naturally including Tsukamoto himself, his brother Koji, and definitely co-star Fujii Kahori (among others). Terrific production design and art direction adjoin fantastic filming locations, and from costume design to gnarly special makeup and practical effects, 'Tokyo fist' looks all-around great. Further factor in good use of sound and Ishikawa Chu's swell music, and I think this is a movie that kind of grows on you.

It has some shortcomings, it's a bit garish at times, and neither the violence nor Tsukamoto's personal style will appeal to all comers. To the same point, while the sum total shares considerable kinship with the filmmaker's other works, it remains true that this is in some measure a different type of title. Nonetheless, I sat to watch with expectations that were a tad mixed, and at length I'm very pleased with how sharp it turned out to be. Strictly speaking I should maybe be viewing the whole with more criticism, yet the fact is that this flick carries itself with a vehemence, and and a ferocious energy, that helps its value to outshine its less sure-footed facets. It's the application of outrageous horror sensibilities to a premise that's fairly ordinary, and when all is said and done 'Tokyo fist' is striking and evocative in a way that makes me kind of love it. One should be well aware of Tsukamoto's proclivities before watching, and I'm not saying the film is a total revelation, but if you do have the opportunity to watch, it's unique, memorable, and invigorating, not to mention entertaining and satisfying, and I'm happy to give 'Tokyo fist' my hearty recommendation.

lemme start out by saying that i enjoyed tetsuo one very much, to me it was like a live action anime. i was excited to see tokyo fist when i saw the directors name and by judging the comments on it here. I have to say that i really didnt understand what he was getting at 90 percent of the time. lots of cameras shaking up and down and blood spouting from peoples heads does not a good movie make. I dont understand one of the comments here, saying that it was "infinitely more coherant" then tetsuo. for one thing the dialogue was so badly translated that they could barely put the most simple of english words in the correct context. i dont mind a complete lack of plot, as long as the ride is interesting. this to me was not.

The first ten minutes are awesome. The movie is very strong, but the quality varies a lot along its development until its bad end. Both the fast paced training scenes and the oppressive Tokyo city footage are very nice. Though, the bizarreness of the story bores. This is a live action film with an anime aesthetics (for anime fans perhaps the movie pleases more). It could be a great movie if it had developed better the main character's ordinary life as a white collar, the chaos of the city (the story does not explore the interesting way the town is shown), the dangerous boxer who tattooes the number of defeated challengers on his shoulder. Less emphasis in body horror and sneezing blood would also contribute to a more satisfactory outcome. The director's brother should be substituted by a better actor. A different and better story for the love triangle would be necessary too. To conclude, the director/writer/actor Shin'ya Tsukamoto has the skills, but lacks good taste and makes bad decisions.

Tsukamoto in this film strips away excess to reveal a animal emotions which are then stretched to excess. In this film anger, violence, pain and revenge drive the action.

Tsuda and Kojima witness the murder of a girl they like and while both vow to find and punish the killers only Kojima holds on to the twisted dream to become a second rate boxer. Tsuda becomes a salaryman in a sexless relationship in which they spend the evenings watching old films (I spotted Metropolis and another which I can't place). A chance meeting between the two after many years awakens the anger that Kojima feels towards Tsuda, and the former begins making a play for Hizuru, Tsuda's girlfriend. This in turn leads Tsuda to become angry and he turns to boxing to get revenge on his former friend. Meanwhile Hikuru becomes a masochist, autonomous of both the males.

The fairly graphic violence is mostly make up and is so over the top it is clearly to make the point mentioned in one of the other comments: violence is often the first recourse in a situation. However, as opposed to a film like Rocky where the violence leads to personal redemption, or an emotional force like Raging Bull, the violence is non-cathartic and meaningless. It is almost as if the characters are driven to behave in a certain way as a reflex reaction.

Fast editing, powerful sound effects and blue colours mark the film out as Tsukamoto's style, and the transformation theme is another element that he returns to. Lots of fun for me, but the person I was with didn't have a clue what was going on. Make your own decision, but there is no relationship to Fight Club whatsoever: this is about human emotion, not social issues.