5/5 4 ½ Stars: Takashi Miike's Unforgettable, Nihilistic Yakuza Saga
  by Woopak (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell)
Based on the Japanese comic book by Hitoshi Tanimura, Takashi Miike's "FUDOH The New Generation" (aka. Gokudo sengokushi: Fudo) is his very first film to ever make it to U.S. shores and it presets the expectations for his other projects. This wildly visceral, eccentric, ultra-violent, silly, tacky is unbelievably fun to watch and made such an impact when I saw it for the first time many years ago. Miike abandons all expectations as to how a Japanese film should be and ventures way beyond the impression of what a Yakuza film should be.

Riki Fudoh (Shosuke Tanihara) is a young man whose appearance is misleading. A highly cultured model high school student on the surface, but underneath he has become a vicious, cold-hearted killer. Riki witnessed his older brother get beheaded by his father in order to prevent a gang war from breaking out. Successor to the Fudoh family, Riki devises a plan to destroy the old generation of the criminal organization, and to take control with his fellow classmates. But his father discovers that Riki is behind the past hits on the Yakuza bosses and now young Riki is the hunted...

"Fudoh the New Generation" is enjoyable trashy fun--silly, full of unrealistic goofs and as with most of Miike's projects during this time, floats around bad taste, over-the-top fun and pure brilliance. There are several scenes that doesn't make sense but for some reason I had no problem buying into the odd material; a supposed "blown up" big bruiser reappears alive, there's a poisoned coffee that causes blood to spray, a vaginal dart gun, a sexy, hermaphrodite school girl and a sexy English teacher who wears an ultra-skimpy, mega-short outfit. Take all these elements and combine it with gallons of arterial spraying blood, a metal shoe, a lot of gunfire and brutal violence and what you'll get is "brilliantly" played, gross fun!

This is a Miike project, so expect brutal violence to be the film's selling point--it also doesn't hurt when he throws in sex and nudity into the mix; which is oddly toned down. The hermaphrodite school girl and the teacher sex scene (between Marie Jinno and Miho Nomoto) was mildly erotic, tame and mostly just implied--a fact may not exactly excite those looking for pervy kicks. Most of the film's action is exaggerated and "manga-inspired" with the tone taken from the Japanese comic book. However, Miike balances this out with an insanely bleak tone, simple cinematography, and an almost realistic protagonist in Riki Fudoh. There is also some commentary as to how humans can be the most violent and insufferable creatures, since even wolves never kill their own. The film is structured quite well, and even though some scenes were grotesquely unrealistic, the film maintains its wild, visceral and moody pace.

The film's best aces come from its cast of oddly, bizarre if interesting characters. Shouke Tanihara plays an unbelievably realistic "Riki Fudoh" as a high school student bent on revenge and the elimination of the old generation of Yakuza bosses. Tanihara is just unnervingly convincing as a cold and calculating young man. He delivers his lines with convincing fervor that made such a disquieting impact. Riki Takeuchi has very limited screen time as the rival gang boss, Nohma; but the actor still fills the screen with his own brand of wicked charisma. Seductively arousing Marie Jinno plays the substitute school teacher, Jun Minori who also has a dark past; I loved her portrayal as the mysterious femme fatale and she steals the show when she wears the skimpy outfits and definitely when she's in the nude. Takeshi Caesar plays Riki's older half-brother, Gondo Akihiro and fulfills the unsettling violent nature of his character; he beats up a chef for making a wrong kind of kimchi. Riki's band of students are made up by two school girls (Touka and Mika, played by Tamaki Kenmochi and Miho Nomoto respectively), Aizone ( the big guy on steroids, and a group of kids are an odd mix of innocence and cold emotion--these kids are outcasts and finds solace only among themselves. The film does pretty much lean toward its characters to deliver its emotions, and Miike does manage to avoid the film from becoming too comic bookish.

Whether you like Miike or not, you have to admire his versatility and the freedom he exercises in his films. The man can indeed direct and can effectively pull off a wild blending of genres such as in "Ichi the Killer", "Gozu" and "Dead or Alive". The only complaint I have about the film is that it ended too soon, with the real showdown just about to begin. Most of his films are unrated so he can do whatever he wants. I suppose one wouldn't be hard-pressed to see this film as a major commentary by Miike as to the younger generation disregarding the older one. Then again, we do shape the "children of the future" don't we? With this in mind, the older Fudoh shaped the younger Riki Fudoh--show callousness and cold emotion, and it will be returned to you in kind.

"Fudoh the New Generation" delivers one heck of an "avant-garde" of a movie experience.

Highly Recommended!! [4 ½ Stars]





5/5 Beginners and fans may all apply
  by PolarisDiB (Southwest, USA)
Shew! One time when I was reading one of many reviews of one of many Miike works, somebody used the phrase" Miike's personal brand of surreal gangster flicks." That there would be the perfect way to describe Fudoh: The New Generation. While showing off Miike's obvious inspiration in Kenji Fukasaku movies, he goes about it by way of Luis Bunuel, both delighting in the absurd while paying close attention to making it follow continuity and a dreamy sense of realism (inherent contradiction intentional). I'd like to call it, "like Gozu, but to the Yakuza genre than to the horror genre", but, well, again Miike defies genre base; after all, Gozu was about the tribulations of a Yakuza member, too.

But honestly, Fudoh: The New Generation does stand out in Miike's ever increasing oeuvre. It's interesting that, although reading a filmography of his makes it seem like he throws in the random classic in a long line of b-movies, it's actually the other way around, and some of the more ridiculously titled of his films are actually the better ones (Fudoh, Big Bang Love Juvenile A, Visitor Q). Fudoh: The New Generation is certainly one of the more underrated of his work. It showcases his general propensity towards over the top violence, sex, and body horror, but nonetheless proves that he's capable of some very effective drama, zany humor, and even disturbing social commentary, as needed. In a way, his best movies are the ones that reflect his oeuvre as a whole: strange, unpredictable, and all over the emotional spectrum in terms of how it affects you.

This time, though, there's something of an interesting metanarrative point: the theme of Fudoh is stated when the eponymous character says, "New blood must replace the old, else the body dies." Young Fudoh is talking about the Yakuza. Miike is talking about the Yakuza genre. This movie is about the love, honor, and respect of a well-known genre of Japanese filmmaking while also delighting in subverting its every cliche. I compare it to The Yakuza Papers, but not lightly: whereas the earlier series of films are obviously a cataclyst for the hyperactive styling of this new, younger generation of Japanese filmmakers, it still takes its traditional themes seriously, Godfather-like. Here, Miike throws the playful, the absurd, and the hermaphroditic into previously assumed roles and lets the blood spray when needed, lets it not when necessary.

It may be unpredictable, but it's far from absurd. I would actually recommend Fudoh: The New Generation to someone not previously exposed to Miike, because it's extreme without being too challenging on the viewer's sensibilities like Ichi or Audition, idiosyncratic without being too clandestine like Big Bang Love, and dramatic without being too reminiscent of previously established forms like Rainy Dogs. It's a good introductory movie to the fascinations of a prolific filmmaker whose every movie excites a feeling of the random and bizarre and yet don't fall into sorry repetition.

It also bears worth mentioning that some of the most striking imagery and graceful camera movements in Miike history are featured in this film.

Definitely a must see, this one.

--PolarisDiB

5/5 Miike Fires A Dart and It Hits The Target
  by Victor Schwartzman (Winnipeg, Canada)
Since being off on sick leave and discovering Amazon, I have also had the time to discover Takashi Miike. A Japanese director who was a bit of a thug in his youth, he fell into directing just because, well, it was there. Films which I have seen of his and reviewed include Audition (Hitchcock on steroids) and Bird People In China (a remarkable character study). The only film of Miike's I have not liked to date is 'Visitor Q', which just plain pushed my buttons--and the wrong ones. However, lately I have been feeling bad about that. I posted a positive review of Ichi The Killer, but it disappeared into cyberspace--but plenty of people have already reviewed that remarkable film.

Miike is a provocateur. For the most part, he makes direct to video films. The budget is low, the money is made back by DVD sales, and he can cut loose. Often cutting loose for Miike involves chopping off feet, but can include people being cut in half. Miike likes to be outrageous. I first came across him when, cruising Future Shop, I came across "Imprint." This was a one hour film commissioned by Showtime for its "Masters of Horror" cable tv series. However, it was too much even for that series, and was released independetly on DVD after Showtime refused to air it.

Fudoh is something else again, even for Miike's work. It is a revenge story, with some real similarities to Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven"--one act of violence leads to an endless cycle of more violence. The violence gets worse and worse.

Although I will be judicious in this review about plot points, and not give away too much, you should still beware:

SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, STOP!!

The film begins with Fudoh as a child. His father and older brother are both gangsters. After what can only be described as a toilet massacre that makes Sam Peckinpah's films look like The Sound Of Music, Fudoh's father kills Fudoh's older brother to placate other gangsters upset by the massacre. To say Fudoh's dad gives the other gangsters a head's up on Fudoh's brother, or that he heads off their concerns...well, you can guess, eh?

Cut to Fudoh as a high school student. This is one rock and roll high school. Fudoh is running his own gang. Helping him are two young boys, perhaps eleven or so years old, who look like they can barely carry their machine guns. These boys don't, uh, kid around. They help Fudoh with his gang, and that includes assassinating the gangsters connected with Fudoh's brother's death.

My favourite Fudoh aide is a cheerleader type, a girl who shows a remarkable ability with darts. She does not use her hand to throw darts, nor does she use her mouth. But she does blow the darts out. Do I have to be explicit? Let's say her aim is remarkable, given she shots the darts while on her back.

The film is beautifully shot and paced, and contains, as one should expect from the above descriptions, a whole truckload of dark humour. I've seen Peckinpah, I've seen Scorsese's gangster movies, heck I've seen Friday the 13th. But I ain't never seen nothing quite like this!!

The film, while hilarious in parts, is equally dramatic. Miike makes it serious when he has to, yet there is no vibe clash when he switches tones. I'm not sure yet how he pulled it off, but he did.

As the revenge cycle gets worse, the violence increases and things get nastier and nastier. Unlike with Visitor Q, though, this is an entertainment that does not rub your nose in it (in fact, unlike Dead or Alive, which tended to also rub your nose in it). Also, unlike some Miike films, it does not feel rushed, with things thrown in for the heck of it. Everything works, right to the end. No scenes stick out like a sore thumb. Or, for that matter, like a dismembered thumb.

Stylish, clever, violent, sexy--did I mention the scene involving two women making out, only one of them is also a man?--this is a unique film that is well worth checking out. Except you'll never check it out of any video store except a speciality store, you'll have to buy this sucker. It ain't coming on cable any time soon!!