Nihon kuroshakai

I just completed Miike's Black Society trilogy and I found each and every movie to be very enjoyable. The opening film Shinjuku Triad Society was a bit over the top, but I'm still glad I took the time out to watch it. The jewel in this trilogy of movies however easily is Rainy Dog with Ley Lines coming in as a close second. Both of those films were so hauntingly beautiful and yet gritty in its depiction of the character's lives and their struggles. And although the stories in this group of movies are nothing original, they are a testament to the fact that the way a story is told accounts for a lot.

Shinjuke Triad Society - 7 Rainy Dog - 8.75 Ley Lines - 8

Can anyone recommend movies similar to this?

It is clear from this film that director Miike was ready for the 'big time' and indeed moved from this accomplished work to the celebrated Audition, shown all over the world. Ley Lines is a fast moving madhouse of small time crooks, the homeless and the wannabe youngsters. Presumably filming on the go we are in and out of not only alleys and back streets but main streets too with (if you look) slightly bewildered passers by caught in the camera cross fire. Hectic pace, well drawn characters, a simple enough story and lots of wrong doings having to be avenged. Nothing sounds new about this and yet such is the command Miike has of the action that we are swept along as if part of the goings on ourselves. Bright, colourful, thoughtful, almost romantic, with a hint of sentiment and funny.

This was a much more character-driven storyline than one might expect from Miike, and very nicely done, although it doesn't exactly score huge points for originality. We have the hooker with the heart of gold, and the usual tale of three disaffected youths trying to better their lot in life, only to fall into a life of crime that leads to disaster. But all of the characters are still sympathetic, and Miike's way of framing his story against the real sense of disconnection that his Chinese characters feel living in Japan is effective (even if American viewers might only pick it out after having a critic more savvy in Asian societal dynamics explain it first). This is also the most gorgeously shot Miike film I think I've seen, rich with deeply saturated and highly stylized colors. 8/10 from me.

Ley Lines (the English title of Japan Triad Society) is the third part of Miike's Triad Society Trilogy but it (and the other parts) can be seen out of order as they contain no recurring characters or storylines. A funny, sad film about bored small town delinquents travelling to Tokyo and being outclassed by the big city criminals. Beautiful camerawork.

Ley Lines is the third installment in the Triad Society trilogy, and like the others this is a (almost) serious film. It revolves around a group of outsiders (sound familiar?) trying to survive in the rough Osaka neighborhood. The movie has a very nostalgic atmosphere and since it revolves around the yakuza world, there are a couple of "Miike-highlights" in this one, however without compromising the atmosphere or tone of the film. So like Shinjuku Triad Society this one is sort of a mix between the serious and insane, and a great movie to boot.

8/10