First Love is the first of two films directed by Takashi Miike that I've gotten around to watching over the past two weeks. This film wasn't a huge hit in Japan despite superstar performances from well known faces such as Masataka Kybota, Shota Sometani, Takahiro Miura, and newcomer Sakurako Konish. The film did however get positive reviews from international audiences and was screened at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
A down on his luck boxer finds himself protecting a drug addicted women from gangs, assassins, and corrupt police officers on one eventful night. He doesn't know why they are after her but he must make sure she survives the night. Drugs and cops just need to stop mingling already. Love can also come at unexpected times….
Miike's creative print is on almost everything he has a hand in directing. I've felt that his films during the last two or three years haven't been as extreme as his films that graced audiences a decade ago. Still, First Love manages to find a bit of old spark that was lost in time. Some aspects of First Love could be mysteriously hard to follow. Only due to the fact that a lot happens at once as you are introduced to new characters with personalities just as colorful as the last character. Nothing here feels typical, even if the storyline might not be the most original that Japan has ever produced. Miike swiftly crafts a world needing wick deeds and wacky characters to do them. Violent comedy makes several appearances during First Love which isn't a shock at all if you know Miike's usually style. I'm not the huge fan of Miike myself…. I do watch his films if they suit me but it was very easy to admit that First Love's wacky blood gore has perfect comedic timing in line with the passing events of First Love. Certain scenes that wouldn't be deemed appropriate to laugh at in reality are made into decent funny cues. Plus the whole "destroy anything in my path" mentality many if not all the characters have makes for exciting build up to an expected explosive conclusion… Well, partly expected anyway.
One would think that a film like First Love wouldn't flourish in the character development category. I expected characters good enough to carry the story, not characters that are truly given strong background stories to revolve in the film's conclusion. Miike wrote First Love so that the film goes back to tie up all the loose ends before the film can end. It was like the film overstayed it's welcome because First Love would have been good ending after the climax scene's violent happenings. Instead, a drama fueled ending plays out on screen that I'm not mad at. Everything felt complete in Miike's own kind of way.
First Love is a great addition to Takashi Miike's filmography. There are qualities in First Love that might seem very new if you have never watched Miike's other works before. Do be warned, some of his films are not for the faint of heart… I'm looking DIRECTLY at you "Ichi The Killer" and "Audition". [INSERT ME LAUGHING]
BELOW IS AN INSERT FROM THE FILM. WATCH AT YOUR OWN DIGRESSION:
No comments:
Post a Comment