Ley Lines (1999)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Kazuki Kitamura, Michisuke Kashiwaya, Tomorowo Taguchi, Dan Li, Show Aikawa, Naoto Takenaka, Samuel Pop Aning, Oh Far-long

To finalize his thematically connected Black Society Trilogy, Takashi Miike goes for a combination of the first two (Shinjuku Triad Society and Rainy Dog) for the third entry Ley Lines. While this idea seems very promising at its conception, the resulting mix that arrives in Ley Lines is a tad underwhelming particularly when the expectations are so high. The film is still an ambitious and artistic venture into the world of outsiders and their connection to organized crime and certainly deserves a lot of praise thrown its way, but it’s not nearly as entertaining in its grit nor is it as stylized in its characterizations as the previous entries. On its own, it’s still an accomplished work showing Miike’s directorial pizzazz at being able to weave exploitative elements with dramatic heft and thoughtful exploration of its themes, but at the same time the film tends to fall off balance with a few sequences that undercut the whole.

Rainy Dog (1997)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Show Aikawa, Tomorowo Taguchi, Gao Mingjun, Chen Xianmei, He Jianxian, Li Lijun, Zhang Shi, Billy Ching Sau-yat, Doze Niu, Vicky Wei, Blackie Ko Shouliang, Zhang Liwei

Takashi Miike is a diverse director. His iconic style might include outsider characters defined by unique traits or his use of very intense violence, but that doesn’t stop him from journeying into a slew of different styles and genres. This even goes back as far as his early career. Shinjuku Triad Society, the first of three films included in this Black Society Trilogy set from Arrow Video, displayed his ability to inject his own style into a Kinji Fukasaku style yakuza. The second film in this set, Rainy Dog, takes the yakuza genre into a different direction though. It's one that uses many of the same themes and focuses, but strips them down to the essentials. It delivers a film that still pushes its audience into some uncomfortable areas, but uses its suffocating atmosphere, disconnect, and ultra-vague character and world building to accomplish it. If Shinjuku Triad Society was Miike taking his V-cinema ideas to the next level, Rainy Dog is taking that level and spinning it into a much more artistic and wholly different tone…to some very impressive results.

Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)

Director: Takashi Miike

Notable Cast: Kippei Shiina, Tomorowo Taguchi, Takeshi Caesar, Ren Osugi, Yukie Itou, Kyosuke Izutsu, Kazuhiro Mashiko, Airi Yanagi

While it’s not expressly said here on the site, Takashi Miike is easily one of the favorite directors by the writing staff here. For me, he’s one of my top five favorites and it was always unfortunate that a lot of his stuff has recently gone out of print or never actually makes it over to the US for a release at all (in reference to his entire robust career). Fortunately, Arrow Video must have seen this void recently as they announced a slew of Miike films will be getting the Blu Ray treatment. First up this year is the Black Society Trilogy. It’s a thematically connected set of films about crime that kicked off Miike’s career as film maker rising from the bowels of V-cinema. First up in this set (and the focus for this review) is Shinjuku Triad Society that sets the stage for the themes and style of the next two films – and perhaps lays a lot of ground work for the rest of Miike’s continuing career. It’s a film that’s gritty, often abrasive in moments of oddity, and completely effective at telling its story. It’s not perfect, occasionally showing its rough roots in smaller things like editing, but it’s still a fantastic modern spin on the yakuza films from decades prior in Japan.