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TOKYO
TRIBE
By Rob Schwartz
Sono Sion has been the go-to
Japanese auteur for twisted,
cooler-than-thou violent,
sexual and sexually violent
flicks for a while now (eat your
heart out, Takashi Miike). Last year, his Why Don’t You
Play in Hell premiered at the prestigious Venice Film
Festival and picked up the Midnight Madness audience
award at the Toronto fest. Sono’s films often
have a comic book edge (for something really grotesque,
check out his Cold Fish) so it’s appropriate
that this work is based on the 2-million-selling manga
Tokyo Tribe 2 by Santa Inoue. Described by the director
as a “rap musical,” the characters do indeed rap, as
well as dance, fight, maim and kill. Set in Tokyo of the
near future, the city is reduced to gang warfare. Mera
(Ryohei Suzuki) is the head of the Bukuro Wu-Ronz
“tribe.” Hostilities with rival gang the Musashino Saru
escalate and their leader Tera (Ryuta Sato) is killed.
Eventually Mera must take on Kai (rapper Young
Dais). Shot with actual rappers and stuntpeople as
the actors—some of whom were enlisted through an
open audition on YouTube—the action does have a
fluid and rhythmic feel. If you want your Sin City with
a little more color, rap and Japanese swords —not to
mention massive gang fights —this is for you. (116 min.)
One of the towering figures of Japanese animation,
Hideaki Anno, will be honored at this this fall’s Tokyo
International Film Festival with a major retrospective.
The timing is apt: this year marks the 30th anniversary of
the start of Anno’s career. Back in 1984, Hayao Miyazaki
was so desperate to get the film Nausicaä of the Valley
of the Wind finished on time, he put an ad in a magazine
seeking additional animators. Anno was still in his
early 20s and had been booted from Osaka University
of Arts, ironically for spending too much time on an animation
project. He sent in some drawings that caught
Miyazaki’s eye. Today, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio
Suzuki recalls that once the young man was given the
important task of creating the God Warrior character for
the film’s end, he never left the studio until the work
was done, even sleeping under his desk. By the end
of 1984, Anno had co-founded his own studio, Gainax.
“That was three decades ago,” Suzuki says, “and now
there is no one in Japan now who doesn’t know of him.”
The main reason for that recognition is the Evangelion
series, which has become a global export. But Anno has
worked in a wide variety of fields. “The World of Hideaki
Anno” will showcase over 50 live and animated features,
TV episodes, commercials and more.
The Tokyo International Film Festival will run October
23-31. Kevin Mcgue
With so many theaters switching to digital projection, it
can be easy to forget the pleasures of watching an actual
film. Cinema Vera (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.
cinemavera.com) reminds us with a program of classics
shown from 35mm prints, September 13-October
3. The celluloid lineup includes Billy Wilder’s Sunset
Boulevard (pictured) and Witness for the Prosecution,
The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape and much
more... The Back to the Theater program is continuing its
mission to get you to see contemporary classics on the
big screen. From September 5, The Professional, which
gave a 12-year-old Natalie Portman her start, will be on
at Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (2-7-1 Yurakucho,
Chiyoda-ku; www.ht-cinema.com), and Ghostbusters
marks its 30th anniversary at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi
(2-3-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku; www.tohotheater.jp).
Upcoming titles include Fargo and Trainspotting
(www.bttt.jp)... Japanese audiences have a seemingly
unquenchable thirst for uplifting films and in recent
years, France has been fulfilling the demand. Following
on the feel-good hit Untouchables is The Finishers, currently
screening at Shinjuku Musashinokan (3-27-10
Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp). The inspired
by a true story flick follows an ex-athlete reluctantly
bonding with his wheelchair-bound son by joining the
Ironman Triathlon together. KM
featured movie
BY DON MORTON
NON-STOP
Here’s one you’ll never see on an airline. It’s the
moderately suspenseful if credulity-stretching tale of
an alcoholic, over-the-hill U.S. Air Marshall who has
issues. The man’s falling apart. And he’s armed. But
we trust him immediately and completely because he’s
Liam Neeson. Someone lurking among the passengers
on his JFK-Heathrow red-eye flight is messing with his
mind, texting snide threats to kill a passenger every 20
minutes if a $150-million ransom isn’t paid. As a bonus,
the mystery messenger has cleverly planted evidence
pointing to Liam himself as the perpetrator of his/her
heist. And the passengers are getting testy about
being kept in the dark about all this. Kind of interesting
how the plane’s very seating configuration affects the
plot as the whodunit progresses. But the film suffers
from glaring plot holes, too many red herrings and not
a few dull stretches. Call it a serviceable thriller you’ll
forget tomorrow. All told, it’s among the more enjoyable
efforts in the actor’s ongoing period of quickie
actioners. Also Julianne Moore and Michelle Dockery.
Japanese title: Flight Game. (106 min)
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