How entertaining? ★★★★★
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 3 February 2015
This article is a review of TOKYO TRIBE.Seen at the Busan International Film Festival 2014. (For more information, click here.)
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“Tokyo tribe never ever die,” Kai (Young Dais)
A yakuza rap musical from Japan. Violent, funny and with a great soundtrack, what’s not to like? A collision of cocky filmmaking and breakneck storytelling make for an intoxicating experience. Director Sion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL?) is never one to hold back; his exuberant imagination makes even the craziest mainstream filmmaker (e.g. Spike Jonze) appear relatively tame.
A yakuza rap musical from Japan. Violent, funny and with a great soundtrack, what’s not to like? A collision of cocky filmmaking and breakneck storytelling make for an intoxicating experience. Director Sion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL?) is never one to hold back; his exuberant imagination makes even the craziest mainstream filmmaker (e.g. Spike Jonze) appear relatively tame.
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Opening on a bravura shot, going on for so long that one, ahem, lost track (geddit tracking shot. *I’ll get my coat*). In an alternate reality, as all Sono’s films exist within (are they all in the same universe?), Tokyo is the New York of Walter Hill’s THE WARRIORS, divided into territories belonging to different gangs. Cops are immediately shown to be ineffectual, turning a blind eye to blatant, rampant criminality. Our M.C. (Shõta Sometani) is our host and narrator, the only character breaking the fourth wall, to bring the audience up to speed, as well as act as a one man Greek chorus.
We are not in Aaron Sorkin territory, where all his players have the air of speaking with the same voice, each gang in TOKYO TRIBE is distinct. Neon-soaked cinematography (think BLACK RAIN with the contrast turned up), and sets that remind of a trip to a no-budget-spared stage production, are the canvas that costume design, hair cuts and striking rapping styles create the clearly delineated; even as we are bombarded with sector monikers, clan titles and nicknames.
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If you are not perturbed by O.T.T. ferocity and sexualised nudity, you are in for a blast. Complaints may emanate from the whiff of misogyny and bloodthirstiness, though they might be allayed in the coda that ridicules machismo bravado. Almost an after-thought, the last few minutes are a knowing and hilarious head-shake to what has preceded in the last 110 minutes or so.
Plot-wise, just let the film wash over you, and the narrative will become clear. Buppa (Riki Takeuchi) is effectively the king of the Japanese capital. No tribe has the inclination to even try and assail his hegemony. Only one house talks of citywide peace, the heroes of the piece, the Musashino Saru. Of course harmony is out of the question. Buppa’s psychotic son, Nkoi (Yōsuke Kubozuka), who keeps prisoners in his pink dungeon as human furniture, inadvertently rounds up Sunmi (Nana Seino) for a brothel; a lady who not only happens to be a badass no-nonsense martial artist, but unknown to anyone she is the runaway daughter of the powerful High Priest – the only person Buppa is afraid of. At the same, short-fused Mera (Ryôhei Suzuki) of the Wu-Ronz gang, is attempting to wipe out the Musashino Saru. Following me? Don’t worry, breathtaking combat and hip-hop battles ensue. Wait till you witness the brilliant beatboxing tea lady and granny DJ!
What’s all the more impressive is that metropolis civil war takes place over one night, starting at 10:09pm. TOKYO TRIBE has jumped to the top of my list of favourite musicals.
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