Crows: Episode 0

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Horrorphile - June 2008

Kurôzu zero (Crows: Episode 0)

June 12th 2008 00:26

I’m a big fan of Japanese lunatic director Takashi Miike. I’ve only seen a handful of the dozens of features he’s made, but I like what I’ve seen. In the 55th Sydney Film Festival there are two new Miike movies; the first which screened was Crows: Episode 0 (2007); what appears will be a series of movies about gangland - high school style. The second is Sukiyaki Western Django (his first English-language film which screens tonight).

Crows is not strictly a horror movie, but there is a dark, urban nightmarish, ultra-violent edge to the movie which makes it suitable material for my blog. Unfortunately I am unable to make the screening of Miike’s spaghetti-sushi western, but fellow movie Orble Cibbuano promises to tackle that one.

Shun Oguri as Genji and Takayuki Yamada as Tamao

Based on the Manga comic by Hiroshi Takahaski Crows is set in the notorious high school Suzuran Boys’ High, where style-thug Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri), the son of a Yakuza boss, is set on ruling the roost. But he’ll have to use his street smarts and agility to skillfully confront and beat the living daylights out of numerous rivals, chiefly rival Yakuza henchman Ken Katagiri (Kyôsuke Yabe) and reigning black crow Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada), before he can reach the top.

Meisa Kuroki as Ruka, R&B babe

It’s Scum (1979) meets The Warriors meets Gangs of New York meets Black Rain. Superbly filmed with excellent production design, costuming, and art direction Crows is undeniably up there with Miike’s best work. But just as important as the look and mood of the movie, the cast is top notch with terrifically pitched performances. Miike is the Scorsese of Japan i.e. he has an instinctive ability to cast perfectly.

Ken (Kyosuke Yabe) is left for dead

While the first half of Crows is a fast-paced, rollercoaster of hand-to-hand combat amidst the graffiti-strewn high school corridors and playgrounds, of one-upmanship taken to extremes, as the movie hits the halfway mark the pace slows and the characters take on more resonance. Enter Ruka (the stunning Japenese-American model Meisa Kuroki), and a tentative romance begins between Gengi and her, only to be tested when Ruka is kidnapped by Tamao’s gang.

There is much irony and twisted humour evident in Crows, basic trademarks of the Miike school of filmmaking, and it is these elements which make Crows so entertaining. Though the characters themselves don’t look especially tough (it’s not really the point), there is a symbolic hard edge to the narrative which underpins their essential nature. The violence is uber, but there's a cartoon-edge to it. For the soundtrack hard Jap rock is the order of the day, although we are treated to a little lite-R&B courtesy of Ruka, on stage at the local club.

Genji and his black rain posse

The climatic schoolyard battle is a show-stopper, but the movie also has a “poetic” coda where Genji confronts the school’s true “monster”, a seven-foot tall hooded redhead silent thug known as Rinda-man. It might have taken life and limb to reach the top for Genji, but there are many battles to be won in a war, and Rinda-man will no doubt demand ample screen time in Crows: Episode 1 if Genji is to defeat him.

Here's a rockin' excerpt (no English subs, sorry, but you can feel the style):

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

June 12th 2008 02:07

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

yeow! Looking forward to the spaghetti-sushi tonight!

Comment by Damo

June 12th 2008 02:23

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

Gangsters with Brollies?
Very cool.

Comment by Cibbuano

June 13th 2008 00:31

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

now I wished I watched this one... Sukiyaki was incredible....!

Comment by Bryn

June 13th 2008 02:58

Horrorphile

Damo, yeah, uber-cool.

Cibby, I hope Sukiyuki gets a theatrical, but I somehow doubt it ... Not happy I couldn't see either screening, nor was there a screener available ...

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