Ley Lines (film)
| Ley Lines | |
|---|---|
 Ley Lines theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Takashi Miike |
| Screenplay by | Ichiro Ryu[1] |
| Produced by | Toshiki Kimura[1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Naosuke Imaizumi[1] |
| Edited by | Yasushi Shimamura[1] |
| Music by | Koji Endo[1] |
| Distributed by | Daiei[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Languages | Japanese Mandarin Taiwanese Hokkien |
Ley Lines (Japanese: 日本黒社会, romanized: Nihon Kuroshakai, lit. 'Japan Underworld') is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, and is the third film in his 'Triad Society' trilogy (also known as the Black Society trilogy), following 1995's Shinjuku Triad Society and 1997's Rainy Dog. The story follows a trio of Japanese youths of Chinese descent who escape their semi-rural upbringing and relocate to Shinjuku, Tokyo, where they befriend a troubled Shanghai prostitute and fall foul of a local crime syndicate. Like many of Miike's works, the film examines the underbelly of respectable Japanese society and the problems of assimilation faced by non-ethnically Japanese people in Japan.
Cast
- Show Aikawa
- Samuel Pop Aning
- Takeshi Caesar
- Yukie Itou
- Michisuke Kashiwaya
- Kazuki Kitamura
- Dan Li as Anita/Chinese prostitute
- Ryuushi Mizukami
- Ren Osugi
- Tomorowo Taguchi
- Naoto Takenaka
- Kôji Tsukamoto
- Hua Rong Weng
Release
Ley Lines was released in theatres in Japan on May 22, 1999 in Japan.[1]
Reception
Sight & Sound found the film to be the "most accomplished" of Miike's Black Society Trilogy, where "Miike's stylistic flamboyance is balanced by narrative coherence." The review negatively pointed out that "There are moments of sexual horror that play awkwardly for laughs and the immigrant experience isn't explored in great depth, but this is a highly compelling work."[2] Grady Hendrix (The New York Sun), referred to the film as "The most technically accomplished of the Black Society Trilogy".[3]
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mes 2006, p. 389.
- ^ Leyland, Matthew (November 2003). "Ley Lines". Sight & Sound. Vol. 13, no. 11. London: British Film Institute. p. 68.
- ^ Hendrix, Grady (26 August 2008). "Takashi Miike's Crime Wave". The New York Sun. p. 11.
Sources
- Mes, Tom (2006). Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike. FAB Press. ISBN 1903254418.
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External links
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