Young Thugs: Innocent Blood (1997)
Miike Takashi
Japan
107 min, color, Japanese (English subtitles)
Review © 2004 Branislav L. Slantchev
Miike is well-known for disliking sequels (which has not stopped them from doing them), so it's a bit surprising to see him direct one for a film that he did not even make in the first place. As he explains it in the interview, he agreed to do it because he was allowed to direct it any way he wanted. Which means it will be a somewhat bizarre experience. Or so I thought.
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| Cherry blossoms in summer? | Going to San Francisco... |
This is not your usual Miike. The film has some violence, but despite the many close-ups of fairly well-socked bloody faces, it comes across as un-dramatic, pedestrian, like a part of one's life. Maybe this was the intended effect? After all, the characters do live in a quite disreputable Osaka borough, and some of them define themselves through violence almost exclusively.
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| School's out forever | Miike's cameo (second from left) |
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| Reign of slapstick terror | Riichi and Yuji: defenders of the weak? |
The story takes place over a year. It starts with summer: Riichi (Chihara Koji), Yuji (Chihara Seiji), Kotetsu (Yabe Kyosuke), and Ryoko (Suzuki Sarina) graduate from high school and are about to enter "real life" if they can. They are your typical modern Japanese teenagers (if one is to believe all the indie films that make it out of the country on the film festival circuit, probably not a good source of information): they are violent, clueless, hopeless, and full of life, camaraderie, and fun. It's a strange combination that should not be unfamiliar to some of us. I remember that we spent most of our time in high school playing cards, smoking, drinking, having fun, and falling in and out of love. And that's exactly what these friends seem have done.
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| It looks more like a cauliflower | Ryoko and Masae |
But then comes the end. School's over, and with it all the cheerful lack of responsibility, care-free existence (because of dependence on parents), and the first shock of collision with dull reality. Suddenly life is not as fun as it used to be, excitement is replaced by the dull repetitiveness of procuring the daily bread, and friendship is strained in the inevitable drifting apart. Our characters give it a valiant try: they attempt to prolong their fun lives throughout the summer. And they do it in the only way they know how, by continuing their violent behavior (e.g. harpooning someone and then dragging him behind a motorcycle, or clubbing assorted neighbors with a baseball bat---there's even some stabbing involved) and by having a good sex life (protected, mind you).
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| The shock of betrayal | Gratuitous shot of Suzuki Sarina |
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| The former lover (Ryoko) | and the current one (Nahomi) |
But it does not work. Kotetsu is arrested, Yuji's mother is in a hospital awaiting serious surgery, Ryoko gets a job as a hairdresser, and Riichi begins to get bored with his relationship with her. When the beautiful Nahomi (Kikuchi Marie) casts him the evil eye, he dumps his high-school sweetheart in a heart-beat. This occasions an attempt to grow out of his childish behavior: he renounces violence (never a good idea in a rough neighborhood that one used to terrorize) and takes severe beating repeatedly, but manages to keep his cool until he so anaesthetizes himself that he is unable to get angry. Ryoko breaks up with him but it is not her life that starts falling apart.
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| The breakup scene | Yuji's triumphant story-telling |
Adrift without passions and without an idea who he is and what he wants, Riichi sinks deeper into depression just as his friends' lives seem to get on track: Yuji finds a soul-mate in Masae (Nakajima Hiroko), a colleague and friend of Ryoko's, and Kotetsu starts dating some floozie from the bar he works at but mostly relishes the muscle cars that his boss lets him drive. Riichi finally realizes that life with Nahomi is unbearable and leaves her (nice touch here, by the way, Miike shows her crying, obviously in love with the guy, so she does not come across as a heartless home-wrecker). He makes a stop at his parents' place but finds only his mother there, and she dispenses some real "good" parental advice: "If you must fight, make sure you win." So he returns to his two friends, who welcome him back.
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| A kept man | The second breakup |
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| Gratuitous shot of Kikuchi Marie | Tender motherly advice |
Unfortunately, as we are ominously told from the very beginning of the film, the happy days are not going to last. Something bad is going to happen to Yuji, although what and when we do not know. But as Ryoko remarks, she wanted to forget Riichi, but it was Yuji that she would never see again. This, of course, casts a shadow in every scene with Yuji. The film actually spends quite a bit of time on his character, showing him as he goes from a somewhat dim-witted sidekick to a funny guy in love.
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| The three friends | Riichi and his nemesis Sada |
As the idyll is rudely destroyed (after Miike toys with our expectations time and again by failing to kill Yuji), Riichi again experiences the loss of belonging and direction. When Ryoko shows up to console Masae, it is expected that he will hook up with her again. She offers her help to him, but he refuses. He did not destroy all their photos for nothing. He has realized his mistake in leaving her but his ego cannot let him crawl back to her. She walks away, and then he darts after her only to get lost in the empty streets. She is gone forever out of his life.
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| The question of their existence | Yuji with his shat pants down |
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| Atmospheric shot of Riichi and Kotetsu | A sign of God? |
The circle is then complete as Riichi regresses back to his high-school persona. The festival begins again, and he rushes to meet his arch-rival Sada (Kitamura Yasushi), with whom he has traditionally exchanged punches. Sada sees him and runs toward him, both looking quite happy at this reunion. Riichi's failure to escape from his violent surroundings is now complete. Miike cuts away before the two clash in order to emphasize that it is not the fist fight that is important, but their readiness and relish to engage in it. Riichi seems happy but he is doomed for he is now truly alone.
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| Gratuitous shot of Suzuki Sarina | On their separate ways forever |
A slow-moving and heart-felt look at Osaka, this film will not be among my favorites although it did leave me with a strong nostalgia about my own post-high school days. Maybe that's why I don't want to dwell too much on it? These were happy days, never to return. Nor should they ever return. Damn Miike for reminding me of them!
The ArtsMagic DVD features an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.85:1) with Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Japanese soundtracks. The English subtitles are optional. The picture is very nice although it does exhibit some specks here and there. Color balance is good, which is important for this film because it has some beautiful shots. I listened to the 5.1 mix and it was quite clean. It is not clear how much one gains from this over the stereo track since most of the film is dialogue and there are only a couple of action scenes, but the surround is nice nevertheless. The extras include a 15 minute interview with Miike where he discusses the film, a 9 minute documentary on Osaka and its history (narrated in English that would have benefited from subtitles), and the usual talent files, and trailer, along with a translation of the Japanese video cover. A very nice DVD of an intriguing film.
October 20, 2004