Black Society Trilogy
Directed by Takashi Miike.
Starring Kippei Shîna, Tomorowo Taguchi, Takeshi Caesar, Shô Aikawa, Li Wei Chang, Shih Chang, Kazuki Kitamura, Dan Li.
SYNOPSIS:
A collection of three thematically-connected crime stories by cult Japanese director Takashi Miike.
Not strictly a trilogy in the common sense of the word, Takashi Miike’s so-called Black Society Trilogy is three films that are connected only through their themes of desperate people trying to survive when it seems that the odds are against them. However, none of these are Rocky-style stories of overcoming the seemingly impossible to emerge the heroic victor, as these being Miike-helmed movies you can guarantee that none – if any – of the characters are that heroic.
The first movie is 1995’s Shinjuku Triad Society, a frankly bizarre tale of extreme violence, gang culture and, at the heart of it all, a family feud that separates two brothers, both of whom are half Chinese/Japanese. Eldest brother Tatsuhito Kiriya (Kippei Shîna) is a cop desperate to take down Wang (Tomorowo Taguchi), the leader of a homosexual triad gang, and will resort to any methods to get his man but his younger brother Yoshito has just graduated law school and has taken on the job of representing the deviant gang boss.
Which is the basis for an interesting family drama amidst all of the violence being dished out by the triads and the cops but it doesn’t end there as the full extent of the Tokyo criminal underworld is brought into the spotlight as Kiriya investigates the market for harvesting children’s organs, leading him to some very dark places.
Very dark subject matter indeed but Takashi Miike has a way of injecting bits of humour here and there to, if not take the edge off the drama, at least make it a little easier to swallow, as it were, and turn what could have easily been something of a garbled mess into an intriguing look at the social issues that crop up in inner city life. The characters of Kiriya, Wang and Yoshihito are fairly clear-cut but the situations they find themselves in present moral and – in most cases – legal challenges that each one of them has to deal with, along with a bunch of side characters that border on the excessive when it comes to traits but that only helps to serve Miike’s grasp of presenting bloody brutality, gay sex (some of it consensual, some not) and the sense that perhaps all is not lost amongst the depravity and despicable characters that inhabit this world.
Rainy Dog was released in 1997 and stylistically is a very different beast to Shinjuku Triad Society, not least in the fact that this is a much more personal and introspective story. Yuuji (Shô Aikawa) is a Yakuza hitman who finds himself without a job when he is fired from his gang. Now living in Taiwan he begins working for a local crime boss taking jobs wiping out rival gang members but one day a former lover turns up with a young mute boy she claims is Yuuji’s son and leaves him there for Yuuji to raise. Not seeming to care very much, Yuuji continues with his life as his son follows him around, witnessing his father’s lifestyle as he takes on assassin jobs and visits local brothels. After one such visit Yuuji becomes involved with one of the prostitutes and they soon form a caring relationship with each other and the boy, making a slightly dysfunctional but no less loving family unit. However, the brother of one of Yuuji’s hits puts a price on his head and the newly-formed family must go on the run if they are to stay together.
Despite looking similar to Shinjuku Triad Society, Rainy Dog is a lot less violent, more straightforward and – shock! – fairly restrained in the oeuvre of Takashi Miike’s work. It does have moments of intensity but these are very fleeting and much more character-driven than what we had seen the director do by that point (and not that many times since), making Rainy Dog a film that is notable for its restraint but also because it shows that Miike can tell a story without having to pepper any dramatic moments with gore or deviant sex, and when he does want to pull on your heartstrings he does so by channelling all the emotions that come with trying to protect a family through the performance of a child that cannot speak and his interactions with a man that we shouldn’t be siding with but inevitably end up championing. Unlike the previous movie in this set, Rainy Dog is not a movie that you can watch over and over but it is one to put on and savour every once in a while, if only to remind yourself that you’re only human and that Takashi Miike doesn’t have to go to graphic extremes all the time to show off his skills as a filmmaker of style and substance.
Rounding out the set is Ley Lines from 1999, and this is where Miike mixes the crime-related action, grim sex and despicable characterisations of Shinjuku Triad Society and presents it all with the ever-so-slightly more delicate touch of Rainy Dog that gives you a little more depth than just bad people running around doing dirty things to other bad people. In it, three young men – two half-Chinese/Japanese brothers and their friend – leave their isolated rural life and head to the big city where they become embroiled in all sorts of nefarious activities involving prostitutes, drugs, guns and a triad kingpin who likes to be told fairytales – no, really.
Of course, none of it leads to any good although we, along with the characters on-screen, are taken on a journey of excitement and danger at first but it soon degenerates into mayhem and disaster as relationships are formed and broken, and, inevitably, there is a tragedy that requires some reflection on the part of certain characters.
Despite aesthetically feeling closer to Shinjuku Triad Society, Ley Lines does play out a lot more like Rainy Dog in that it almost pauses for contemplation after every scene where something substantial happens. Not as distracting as you may think, and in the hands of a lesser director it no doubt would have been, but it is a technique that gives Ley Lines a lot more substance as a crime drama and a character piece as Miike again delves into the themes of people with mixed heritage trying to exist in a society where they don’t feel accepted, only here it isn’t brother-against-brother but a group trying to survive against mounting odds from the alien world they find themselves in. The human drama element comes across a lot better here than in the previous two movies, and by watching all three films in succession you can see Takashi Miike’s progression as a filmmaker as his grasp of tackling more realistic social issues feels more natural by the time he gets to Ley Lines, but it is difficult to see where he could have gone from here in that style as it does kind of put a full stop on that particular thematic thread.
Coming in a two-disc Blu-ray set, disc one features the first two movies, both with audio commentaries by Takashi Miike biographer Tim Mes and featuring trailers, while disc two features Ley Lines, a commentary, a trailer, a new interview with actor Shô Aikawa and a new interview with Takashi Miike, who discusses his career in great detail. All three films look fine without being anything dazzling but they are supposed to be gritty and grim with very little in the way of vibrant colours, and so on that level the HD transfer keeps the original feel intact while being a little sharper around the edges than previous releases. As the three films aren’t connected by a narrative then you can view each one as a standalone movie but it is when viewed together as the work of a filmmaker with something to say about the brutality of sex and violence within a social context that they are more interesting and powerful. These aren’t your normal Saturday-night-in-with-a-takeaway kind of crime movies so don’t go into these expecting a Japanese Goodfellas or Heat, but if you’re in the mood to be stimulated by a director with a challenging outlook on filmmaking and storytelling then this set is definitely worth a look, although it would pay to be careful who you watch them with as not everyone is as open to being stimulated or challenged in the way Miike does that much in one sitting.
Shinjuku Triad Society – Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Rainy Dog – Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Ley Lines – Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
