Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)

A Taiwanese Triad group in Shinjuku decapitate a rival Yakuza boss, threatening to trigger a gang war and giving the cops an excuse to get involved. Half-Taiwanese detective Kiriya is determined to take down the gang, especially when he discovers that his younger brother has gone to work for them after graduating from law school.

SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY is one of Takashi Miike's earliest films as director, and perhaps the first to truly be a Takashi Miike film. As is often the case Miike is less interested in delivering a story than he is in creating a series of moments, connected by a plot for sure, but in a meandering and unhurried way. He approaches events from different directions, shifts the focus to different characters, telling the story obliquely and sometimes indirectly.

The film sees Miike exploring boundaries with surreal and transgressive scenes. There's a lot of sex of one form or another, much of it between men and not all of it consensual. It is never remotely erotic, but rather unsettling. Likewise the sporadic violence which erupts is rarely titillating, though it is sometimes darkly amusing.

I'd never really noticed Kippei Shiina before his unforgettable appearance in The Forest of Love, but apparently he's been around for decades (I notice him quite often now). He is excellent in the lead role of Detective Kiriya, earnest and intense. Tomoro Taguchi steals the show though as Triad boss Wang, with a completely unhinged and psychotic performance.

Takeshi Caesar is somewhat more dignified, and Eri Yu does a great job as the only prominent female character - who has a predictably rough time of things.

Takashi Miike is quite unusual for a Japanese director in that he has often sought to show the experiences of non-native Japanese people, with many of his films featuring Chinese or Korean immigrants (e.g. City Of Lost Souls) or Japanese characters overseas (e.g. Rainy Dog or BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA). Here we get both, thanks to a brief but evocative trip to Taiwan.

The cinematography throughout is very good, as is the editing and the sometimes unpredictable soundtrack. It's an accomplished film given that this was probably the first Miike film for theatrical release (not counting his years as assistant director to the likes of Shohei Imamura).

There are a number of those "Miike Moments", unexpected and/or outrageous developments that abruptly shift the tone, but the film is subdued compared to Fudoh or Ichi The Killer. It does show his burgeoning talent and vision though. It's not a starter Miike film, but it's one to explore when you're ready to dig deeper.