FULL METAL YAKUZA

In recent years, Takashi Miike has built up a considerable, and impressive, body of work. Full Metal Yakuza is typical of his work in many respects, continuing the themes of alienation and isolationism that run throughout his films. However, Full Metal Yakuza is a slight departure from his earlier offerings in that his previous films tended to present their subject matter with gritty realism and brutal violence. With Full Metal Yakuza, Miike ventures into the realm of the fantastical and the violence and brutality is, for the most part, of a more comic-book style. Nevertheless, the themes of alienation and of the main protagonist seeking acceptance within the criminal fraternity are ever present. Similar to Miike's earlier work, Rainy Dog (the second film of the Black Society Trilogy), Full Metal Yakuza has the central character being shunned by even the criminal underworld - and finds himself completely and utterly alone.

The story centres around Hagane (Tsuyoshi Ujiki) who is enamoured at the idea of being a Yakuza member and works for a Yakuza family doing menial tasks, but dreams of one day becoming a fully-fledged gangster. When he is cut down in a hail of bullets during a hit on his boss, Tousa, he reawakens to discover that he has been resurrected as a bullet-proof cyborg with superhuman strength. He also carries within him the heart of Tousa as well as Tousa's…erm…penis (which we never get to see due to optical censoring - but judging by people's reactions is undoubtedly impressive!).

The film then becomes a revenge piece, with Hagane taking vengeance on all those responsible for the hit on his boss. This includes members of his own family who had been involved in a double-cross. Hagane also manages to pick up a love interest along the way, in the form of Tousa's former mistress, but she soon flees his amorous advances when she discovers what he is and that he carries Tousa's heart within him.

However, when she is kidnapped and brutally raped (and Miike injects some necrophilia here for good measure!?), Hagane goes on the rampage and heads for a final showdown with the villains.

Full Metal Yakuza definitely points the way to Ichi in that there is an anti-hero with a silly body suit on, mercilessly killing all that get in his way. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted, though I doubt that many who read this review are of that disposition anyway! However, saying that, it's no-where near as outrageous or over over-the-top as Ichi, but it's still pretty 'out there', with enough action and violence to keep even the most jaded of viewers interested. It's also an extremely well crafted film with good performances from the leads with a story that drives along at a more than reasonable pace. It does slow down for a short while when the love interest enters the story and at first seems a little awkward and out of place from the rest of the film, but it sets the scene for what follows - so be patient, this emotional set-up is necessary.

If you enjoyed Ichi and Fudoh, then this is definitely for you, but if your preference is for Miike's earlier work - like the Black Society Trilogy or the Young Thugs films - then this could prove a little disappointing, even though Miike's trademarks are still very much in evidence. Of all Miike's films, this is probably the weakest I've seen so far, but it's still a deliriously wild ride and there's a definite steak of cheeky black humour running throughout - excepting the extremely nasty necro-rape, which seems oddly out of place. It's also good to see that the BBFC have passed this uncut - especially considering some of its strong content. Highly recommended if you enjoy the absurdities and extremities of Asian cinema as I do.

Considering this film was shot on an obviously miniscule budget, this is a good solid transfer from the folks at Artsmagic - it also benefits from anamorphic enhancement and is framed at about 1.85:1. The film suffers occasionally from contrast levels that don't look quite right, but I suspect this has more to do with the way film was shot than to any fault with the authoring at Artsmagic. The film has a strange, subdued colouring to it, but it's not a distraction, and seems as though this is the way the film was designed to look. Another plus is in the fact that the subtitles are very easy to read. There is also some amusing optical blocking of genitalia, but this is par for the course in Japanese cinema and is, presumably, not something that Artsmagic imposed on the film themselves.

The film is complimented with an efficient Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, which is perfectly adequate. The dialogue is crisp and clear and there were no audible problems with the soundtrack on offer.

Artsmagic also really do themselves proud by furnishing this release with some worthwhile extras. There are on-camera interviews with Takashi Miike (a surprisingly quiet-spoken chap!) and editor Yasushi Shimamura. There is also an audio commentary by author Tom Mes. As well as these, the disc also provides filmographies, biographies, artwork gallery and some previews.

Overall it's an extremely impressive package and definitely worth picking up if you have even a passing interest in Japanese cinema.

Review by C J Otter