Fuyajô

I forgot how much I liked this movie. Excellent cinematography seldom satisfies without a cohesive plot e.g. Lost Souls. In addition to both, this beauty has a teen-idol popular in Eastern Asia, a gorgeous lead actress (Mirai Yamamoto--you may have seen her spinning a car laying flat on its side in Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?"), a strong supporting cast, twists and more twists, the ever great lyrics of B'Z, captivating story-telling methods, intricate character relationships, and realistic bilingualism. And I cannot emphasize how gorgeous the lead actress is.

This film was made right before the lost decade began in Japan. It's beautifully shot and well acted by the two famous leads. For me it serves as a nostalgic snapshot of Tokyo pre 2000 and the years before Japanese decline. This film has perhaps aged well and is better now 30 years later than when it was released because China has grown to become the world's factory and Japan has declined. This juxtaposes with the dual language speaking characters with familial histories from China and Japan beginning with World War 2. Additionally I've come to really appreciate late 1990s movies shot on 35mm with a soft and grainy image. I appreciate film making was different when film stock was very expensive and directors couldn't view what they shot immediately on a 4K studio monitor. 1990s directors couldn't rely on as much post processing either. The story in this film isn't the most amazing but it's good enough and it's worth revisiting the world it takes place in.

As usual for an asian movie the cinematography is superb, but that's not all. Teenie idol's Takeshi Kaneshiro's acting is subtle and very good. The movie draws a fine picture of the turmoil in underground Tokyo Shinjuku where the Chinese and Korean control the market. Violence is not overexaggerated as asian movies sometimes tend to and the soundtrack is more thematically linked as usual in this kind of movies.

All in all a fine movie worth watching.

Sleepless Town was a pleasant surprise for me, a well-written and well-executed film, with a gangster storyline containing enough twists to win a dance contest.

Kenichi (Kaneshiro) is a half-Japanese, half-Chinese man of the underworld. You can sell him anything except children's organs. His domain is in Kabukicho, a gangland controlled by various Shanghainese gangs intent on taking overall control. Things are calm, however, his former partner-in-crime, Fu-Chun, is rumoured to have returned to Kabukicho, having fled years earlier after killing the number two to gangland boss, Yuan (Tsang). Yuan wants to get even and attempts to do so by using Kenichi. Meanwhile, Fu-chun's girlfriend, Natsumi Sato (Yamamoto) turns up to sell something to Kenichi.

It's a complicated plot (not least to describe) and it is even more than I've said already. Plot twists are everywhere in this film, and it's been designed to keep you guessing. And what's more it works.

Takeshi Kaneshiro, heartthrob to millions of teenage girls in Asia, is perfect in his role with his trademark stone cold yet innocent manner. Meanwhile, Mirai Yamamoto, is simply brilliant in her role, keeping everyone guessing as to the motives of her character. And Eric Tsang demonstrates why he is everyone's favourite gangland boss (epitomised in the Infernal Affairs trilogy)

This is a fine movie, and whilst the multitude of unpredictable twists really do push the limits of the story. Any more, it would be incoherent.

Overall, it is a very good movie, and is well worth a watch. One to see.