|
DEAD
OR ALIVE
7/10
Dead
or Alive: Hanzaisha : Japan 1999 : Takashi Miike : 105 min
At
first glance this appears to be a gangster flick with a plot that isn't
too far removed from the classics like Heat.
At first glance...
The
plot centres around a cop investigating a series of drug related Yakuza
murders carried out by Ryuichi (Riki Takeuchi) and his gang. Seems straightforward
enough? Well here comes the twist - in an interiew on the DVD director
Miike tells us how the production company had already hired the two lead
actor as they were the biggest names in the Japanese 'straight to video'
genre - this meant that the film would be financially successful. It also
meant they started telling him what to do. Now anyone who has seen a Miike
film before is aware of what he is capapble of producing and Dead or
Alive certainly doesnt disappoint.
The
first ten minutes of the film scream by and would not be amiss as footage
from the Prodigy's infamous Smack My Bitch Up music video. After
a minute or so of the screaming rocktastic extravanganza you begin to
realise that this isn't just to look good, it is setting up the main characters
in one fell swoop (well that and amongst other things showing you a woman
being thrown out of a window to the street below where the people below
then steal the cocaine in her dead hand).
Next
we settle down into slightly more familiar territory (at least for cops
and robbers films), relationships are built up, people are leant on, a
man is shot in the stomach and his dinner ends up on the carpet. The usual
suspects. Miike continues with the film tearing along, the bodycount rising
as it does until eventually the showdown arrives and then everything kicks
off. The last ten minutes of the film are back into such a high gear that
it becomes like some bizarre hallucination of a film.
This
is a great film and marks a point in Miike's career where he could have
bowed down to the pressure of the industry. Instead this film stands as
a make or break point in his career which, with his visual, musical and
directorial skill has become a standing stone for just what is possible
if you don't listen to a word anyone else tells you.
Miike
gets his strength from his images, the script and story, although good,
pale in comparison to his ability to yank the viewer's expectation, turning
it on its head and bashing it on the floor. Nothing in this film happens
as you expect it and from the prostitute drowned in a toddler's paddling
pool full of her own excrement to the porn director getting his assistant
to 'fluff' a dog - its all the underworld. At least it is the way Miike
tells it.
21st
August, 2002
(seen on DVD
20th August 2002)
If you want
more Takshi Miike films why not check out the reviews for:
Ichi the Killer
Audition
by Adam Maxwell
Back to Film Index
|
