Director Sion Sono probably made his first real mark on audiences outside of his native Japan around 2001 when word spread on the underground about a remarkable set-piece on his latest film. The director had gone and lined up 54 schoolgirls on a subway platform and had them leap off into the path of an oncoming high speed train showering unsuspecting commuters and those watching the screen in a tidal wave of blood. The film was Jisatsu sâkuru (Suicide Club) and needless to say we were hungry to track down copies and enter the strange and hyperrealist world from a director who was definitely not playing things straight in the slightest.
Whilst J-Horror was coming of age with films like Ringu (The Ring 1988) and Ju On (The Grudge 2002) other directors were bringing surreal elements into their films along with lashings of splatter which harked back to the notorious likes of the All Night Long aka Atrocity series. Spearheading the way was Takashi Miike with films such as Audition, Ichii The Killer and Visitor Q but Sion Sonno was not far behind him. The last reel of Suicide Club in particular left viewers scratching their heads and wondering just what they had seen as any form of linearity was thrown completely out the window as the director peppered the film with his own fetishes. He followed up moulding his career with the likes Noriko’s Dinner Table and Strange Circus in 2005 and Exte: Hair Extensions in 2007, gaining a cult following along the way. However it was his 2009 feature Love Exposure, a tale of love, upskirt ninja photography and the transvestite resurrection of cult Female Convict 701 Scorpion that he really came of age. Watching it the first time is a jaw dropping experience and one that needs repeating a few times. When you consider that the film runs at a whopping 237 minutes those few watches are certainly a time consuming dip into the director’s delirious mania.
Although still trotting out a couple of films a year since then Sono’s output seems to have gone off the boil for Western audiences until recently when a couple of new films see him very much back on the radar. The first is 2013’s Why Don’t You Play In Hell a yakuza vs film crew hybrid which still remains currently unreleased in the UK but trailers show to look absolutely mental. Hopefully this will be picked up before long and get seen over here but in the meantime Tokyo Tribe 2014 is more than capable of filling the gap courtesy of Eureka Films who are bringing it out theatrically and on Blu Ray over here soon.
It’s another completely insane and jaw dropping visual feast of a movie and one that again will not really get complete justice from a single viewing. The film is set in a dystopian, neo-futuristic Tokyo run by gangs of battle rappers. Yes you read that right! Essentially this is in essence a musical but don’t run away if like me that idea fills you with horror. It’s not a genre I favour although prior to watching I couldn’t help but fondly think of the aforementioned Miike’s all singing, all dancing zombie musical The Happiness Of The Katakuris (2001) As a starting point however this is much more in line with Gakuryû Ishii’s punk rock apocalyptic Burst City (1982) but a much more realised and ultra modern take on things.
Tokyo is divided into tribes; we get these explained to us via a knifepoint presentation on the chest of a buxom female rookie cop who tried to arrest the wrong gangster. It’s quickly established that much of the dialogue is going to be rapped out via the cast members, making this all the more unique. Introductions to the tribes are intriguing and you cannot help thinking of everything from Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange to Walter Hill’s The Warriors and John Carpenter’s Escape From New York as territories and penalties for transgressing into them are mapped out.
As with all things there is naturally a gang in control and here it is the very odd family clan the Buppas who control Saga Town “a wretched hive of lust and pleasure” with an iron fist. The patriarch is ruthless, his son has rooms of live body furniture, and those that gather round his table are a bunch of crazed misfits from the girl who warbles operatically Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga (yes that one from Antichrist) to the chief peroxide baddie Merra (Ryohei Suzuki) who has joined forces with the family from the Bukuro Wu Ronz tribe and wants to wipe out the other clans. Sound confusing? Well it is, especially when you add the heroes of the piece, the hippy peace loving Musashino Saru tribe and a mysterious girl Sunmi (Nana Seino) kidnapped and enslaved to the brothels of Saga City who seems to be the key to everything that is going on.
Tokyo looks fantastic, the colours utilised are all neon and garish, bordering on vulgar. Considering the grimy drug and prostitution trades going on it’s a real contrast and makes the place look like a real adventure land. The design of the film is brilliant and visually the film shines throughout from the gold board room of the The Buppas to the deep red tones of the son’s body sculpted play room. It’s as sumptuous as anything seen in a Peter Greenway film and plot wise comparable too. Naturally the rap and hip-hop style of lyrical jousting plays a main part here too and it’s no more of a surprise to find out that many of the cast are top rappers in Japan than it is to discover that the film is based on a Manga (Tokyo Tribe 2 by Santa Inoue). It’s great fun watching the cast poetically word off against each other but don’t worry there is plenty of breath taking martial artistry on display too including some that looks like a mix of kung-fu and breakdancing, as well as the panty flashing high kicking action of Nana Seino who really shines and captivates in every scene she is in.
I already feel like a repeat view of this is in order. The fast editing style means many scenes were there in a flash and gone before the brain even had time to take them in. This is definitely a film that will stand up to many enjoyable sittings and as word spreads it has the making of a cult movie written all over it. I can fully see this going down a storm as a live audience participation film in cinemas once it has fully been digested. Although completely unique there will always be certain reference points and the films already mentioned along with maybe Darren Lynn Bousman’s Repo The Genetic Opera (2008) which all sprang to mind whilst watching this. In a way I was pleased they did and a few reference points were definitely required to stop complete brain meltdown.
So if you are looking for demented, violent, sexy, all fighting, all-dancing, hip-hop, karate kicking, bloody, action film book a seat and prepare to fall off it in amazement;. Tokyo Tribe brings da ruckus and then some!
(Review by Pete Woods)
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