Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #30: DOUBLE FEATURE! HIMIZU (2011) / TOKYO TRIBE (2014).

My foreign-language movie collection is overwhelmingly Japanese, and one Japanese director whose work particularly it particularly represents is Sion Sono. I'm not too familiar with his whole filmography, but two of his movies have really bowled me over in recent years. They have as many differences as similarities, but they are equally awesome.

Firstly, Himizu (2011) follows two troubled adolescents enduring the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Yuichi (Shota Sometani) is a misanthropic boy sick of living with his lazy mother and violent, irresponsible father, who at school meets Keiko (Fumi Nikaido), an optimistic rich girl who instantly sees a smidge of good in Yuichi. Despite his initial apathy and repulsion (in one scene he even demands she stop praising him in class), they gradually become kindred spirits. But when Yuichi's patience finally runs out, he violently lashes out at society's bad seeds and now Keiko must set him back on the right path.

Based on Minoru Furoya's manga, Himizu has many layers and Sono nails them all: a revenge flick, a portrayal of squalor and social malaise, an exploration of modern urban and rural Japan, and most significantly a very sincere and resonant tale of teenage angst and romance. Sono handles it all with delicate authority, very smartly using Samuel Barber's breathtaking Adagio for Strings (best known as the theme from Platoon) and eliciting strong performances from Nikaido and Sometani (who won Marcello Mastroianni Awards for Best Young Actor and Actress from the Venice Film Festival), amidst nicely controlled cinematography.

Then we have 2014's Tokyo Tribe, which is a prime slice of unashamed, intentional ridiculousness as only Japan can produce. Another manga adaptation (this time of one by Santa Inoue), the setting is a near-future Tokyo split into 23 rival tribes at war for control against a melting pot of corruption, violence and depravity. When the Bukuro Wu-Ronz tribe leader Mera (Ryuhei Sanada) murders enemy Tera from the Musashino Saru tribe and then hunts Mera's successor down to settle a personal score, the already bubbling pot boils over. And then as the High Priest's daughter disappears, vicious Yakuza boss Buppa (Rik Takeuchi) hits the scene, sparking an intertribal turf war across the city, with our guide being street hood MC (Shota Sometani again). All of it over one night, and in the tone of a hip hop musical.

This must be one of the coolest movies I've ever seen. Some may say it tries too hard there, or the music is too repetitive, or the cast can't rap, but I think such criticisms all miss the point. Sono's intention here, besides trying primarily to make a deliberately ridiculous and far-fetched experience (also crammed with gratuitousness), is really to deliver a stinging satire of Japanese organised crime in all its immorality and hypocrisy. Which, of course, given their power even with the police, is seriously fucking audacious. Plus, while doing all of this, Sono also offers snappy dialogue, nuanced characters and thoroughly rhythmic and energetic direction.

Himizu and Tokyo Tribe both aren't for everybody, and obviously neither are appropriate for kids. But love or hate them, watch either and I'm sure you'll acknowledge Sono's filmmaking talent and nerve.


P.S. As this is my 100th post, I would like to sincerely thank you all for taking this ride with me. I hope it's been fun, and there's heaps more on the way.