Samehada otoko to momojiri onna

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl was one of the best Japanese films that I have seen in a while. The fast pace, quick cuts, and awesome soundtrack made for a great movie. Not to mention the cool characters and decent plot. Tadanobu Asano wasn't as cool in this movie as he was in Ichi the Killer, but then again who could top anything from that movie. At first I didn't know if I would like the movie, being a fan of older samurai films and not much for no-plot action movies, but I'll have to hand it to this film, because even though the plot was a little main stream (man steals Yakuza money and then the gangsters go after him) the cinematography and the fact that the story wasn't really told in chronological order really made this movie stand out from the stereotypical action movie. The way the director would occasionally slow down or speed up the film, or intentionally put in serious jump-cuts, really added to the feel of the movie. I thought that it was a great movie and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Japanese cinema.

A man called Samehada ("Shark Skin") steals some money from his Yakuza boss, and goes on the run. He crosses paths with a girl called Momojiri ("Peach Hip", or "Peach Ass" if you prefer) who is fleeing from a hotel manager who doesn't treat her well. They decide to throw their fortunes in together and try to escape the Yakuza and an assassin.

The credit sequence introduces you to the cast of the characters you are about to meet, and it was very worrying... so many characters, I thought "it's going to get real confusing", but this is not the case at all. Even though there are a lot of characters, each one is well developed and unique - no problem following who they are and what their relationships are. It's one hell of a set of characters too... "colourful" hardly seems sufficiently descriptive, but they are all brilliantly conceived and portrayed. The main focus of the movie is the interplay between all these characters, with lots of sharp and witty dialogue throughout, and a generally black humour in the situations they get into and the way they get out of them.

The movie is fast moving... very well paced in fact, and beautifully filmed & edited too. There's a little bit of violence, but nothing that's going the slightest concern to anybody who's seen some Kitano or Miike. Almost wholesome in fact

It's difficult to say what makes the movie so good - it's not really any one thing - it's basically just an all-round clever, funny and exceptionally well made movie. Recommended!

I'm on a journey. Next stop: Asanoland.

Seriously. After undergoing an experience called Survival Style 5+, I decided to peruse Tadanobu-san's cinema library. Having seen Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl, I began to recall the story, but enjoyed the minute details, random Japanese cultural references, and a mix of really eccentric characters.

This ain't no gunfest. If you want bodies and shells hitting the floor, catch Hard Boiled. SSM+PHG shows you people in a moment in time what happens when they interact. Asano as Samehada oozes the 'segoy' yakuza with style to match! He rarely panics, acts quickly, and even has time to joke and laugh. Along with the reserved Toshiko, the story revolves mainly around this unlikely duo. You also have yakuza whose topics of interest include rare ad collecting, glue sniffing, and, of course.... finding Samehada.

This film's fun to watch. If you are going in expecting to see all out sawed off shotgun blasts, drive-bys, and opium plants exploding, it's not going to happen. This gangsta movie has a dark, comedic flavor which you may find yourself becoming fond of. Plus, it's a good starter to see the talented Tadanobu at work.

Shark Skin man and Peach Hip girl is a quirky little film based on a short manga series. The premise is that shark skin man is on the run from a gang he was a part of after running off with a load of money. On his path he meets peach hip girl who has run away from the hotel owned by her awkward pervy uncle and they decide to run away together. The film its self is a mixture of dark Miike humour with many offbeat moments of awkward silences. The henchmen are very slapstick and cartoonish like in many manga adaptations. Unfortunately, it suffers from having so many characters as they appear quite 2-dimensional besides the two protagonists. I also found some of the scenes were poorly lit which was quite annoying and there wasn't much in the way of shootouts besides maybe two. What it fails in plot it makes up in humour not everyone will take to it but i found it quite fun to watch and it paces itself extremely well so avoids getting dull. so overall id say give it a watch at least once it's worth your time but its not as amazing as the hype says would benefit from a few sequels maybe. Violence 3/5 Plot 2/5 Humour 4/5 Acting 4/5 Music 3/5

Some great characters in this film enjoyed the costumes and comedic characters especially the big tough guy at the beginning and the scene where he's messing around in the Jeep that he found like a seven-year-old boy was hilarious,short but incredibly violent the shoot out scene in the bathroom window I like to lick my car frame of a country like oil painting when he moved out of the frame of the window. Plot was bit cliche, this film felt like a bit of a mish mash of Tarantino guy Ritchie and Japanese gangster films, weird Britpop rock soundtrack thing going on kind of enjoyed it for the 90s vibe but all in all felt like a original film with clear influences from many other directors.