Cannes Q&A interview

Q: "Lots of movies are called First Love, why did you choose that name?"

Miike: "To make money"

A boxer with a brain tumor, a crooked cop with terrible luck, a screw-up yakuza who’s seen too many movies, a dismembered Chinese gangster who wields a pump-action shotgun with his one remaining arm, a terrified prostitute who’s stalked by a ghost in tighty whities, an unkillable femme fatale who will kick a man to death just for being in her way, and the world’s most wonderful heroin. Those are just some of the many different ingredients that prolific Japanese auteur Takashi Miike swirls into his frequently sublime new gangster film, a piece of work so feral and full of life that you’d never guess it was (at least) the 90th feature its director has made in the last 30 years. Even now, after making everything from scarring horror masterpieces (“Audition”) to unwatchable family comedies (“Ninja Kids!!!”), Miike hasn’t lost any of his lust for life, and he still finds new ways to surprise.

READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE

Takes a bit long to get going and a bit long to cool down but everything in between is batshit crazy in the best way.

Hoop-tober (hopefully), #14:

The perfect midnight movie. Sincerely some of the most spectacular Asian horror-action since Tsui Hark’s Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind and, much like that masterwork, First Love is an absolutely deranged adrenaline rush from start to finish. I haven’t audibly responded to the violence in a film as often as I did here in some time; thankfully, I wasn’t alone. This may go down as the most memorable screening of the festival, at the very least if only in a visceral sense. Miike’s done it again — what a blast.

“funny, but painful.” miike’s Baby Driver for better and worse.

Takashi Miike could make this sort of thing in his sleep. His talent at executing cinematic experiences with precision and speed is unmatched in many regards. He is so proficient, and varied, as a director. Every frame and edit of First Love is confidently and perfectly executed. He also stands as one of the greatest action directors around, though goes underappreciated because of the breadth of genres he has worked in. In First Love, as with 13 Assassins or Blade of the Immortal or Yakuza Apocalypse, the action is done with glee, but remains properly violent and smooth in flow. First Love is also mental, being ridiculous and farcical in a way only Miike seems to do. The story, of chances and mistakes, is silly but both delightful and dark. Altogether this leaves First Love as a wildly entertaining and hilarious slice of Japanese genre cinema.

2019 Ranked
Takashi Miike Ranked

Masataka Kubota plays a small time boxer (Leo) with nothing left to lose who falls for a prostitute. If it couldn't get anymore cliche than that, it made for an extremely blasé first act. 

The action heats up though, once we are given more depth into Monica's background and a kickass fighter named Julie appears. Leo has tons of good fight sequences. A cruel decapitation scene is forgiven, because the swords have cute knitted animal head protective covers. 

Overall, Takashi Miike rules the screen because of his humor and great staged sequences. 

Note: I saw this in the IMAX, despite the film not being enhanced for IMAX.  

Vegan alert:
-Leo peels eggs
-Snakeskin coat
-Animal print coat

We get a sword fight, a gun fight and a boxing match all in one. 

Other than the bystanders who would stare at the actors, I was extremely invested in the characters.

What a lovely setting; Tokyo by night. Couldn’t be more atmospheric for this raw, funny, thrilling, action packed movie by Miike. Great characters also; a boxer with a brain tumor, a lost hooker, a corrupt cop, some crazy Yakuza guys and a Chinese gangster with a pump shotgun and one arm. Sometimes its told a bit messy with some pacing issues, it could’ve been easily shorter tho. But it still has enough violent moments with lots of blood, crazy hilarious moments and a banging soundtrack. An entertaining watch for sure.

Every time I watch a Takashi Miike movie, I end up asking myself why I ever watch movies that aren’t Takashi Miike movies.

Review at Seattle Screen Scene.

AN ANIME-FLAVOURED BABY DRIVER ON METH

Sliced heads rolling: gang wars broiling; an array of vibrant, insane, despicable characters whose stories erupt into chaos when paths finally intertwine. It’s relentless, with its tender moments few and far between—it’s rare to see dark humour packaged this brutally. Takes a bit to pick up steam but once it gets going, there’s no getting off Takashi’s wild ride.

This movie is like Guy Ritchie meets Tarantino with a healthy dose of Japanese weirdness! I think some people may have expected it to have a faster start, but I liked that they set up the world and the two leads so you cared more. For me the payoff of that insane 3rd act was totally worth it!

There are few narratives more enjoyable than the convoluted, inept crime action movie, and boy does this one deliver. Everything about this is just straight up cool. The characters are all amazing (how badass is Julie!?), and the way their disparate stories are weaved together is nothing short of wonderful- it's like Blood Simple on speed and steroids. The action is a blast, and the whole movie is shot well with a nice dark, grimy look to it. And, it has several moments that made me laugh harder than I have in ages. Just insane, Miike is the man.

If it has one flaw though, it's the opening section. It's pretty sluggish for a while before things kick off. I think that can be mostly forgiven though, because how do you even smoothly introduce a dozen characters with crossing storylines effectively?

Probably not the best film I've watched from miike, but it was still good.

Ótima produção, tem personagens bem caricatos e situações muito engraçadas, se bem que eu esperava algumas situações bem mais impactantes, a maioria dos encontros tem um certo grau de importância, mas não é algo que te surpreende, o modo como os personagens interagem, é rápido, se não for por um dos antagonistas que para mim, é um dos melhores personagens, o rapaz que organiza todo o esquema e mata metade da galera, personagem excelente, os protagonistas são bem aleatórios, mas cumprem bem o papel.

nice to see Baby Driver got an anime adaption

Takashi Miike taking crystal meth:

"I'm going to create a film"

Miike's back, baby!

A grandma gets decked in the face in this movie and it made me laugh. Am I a bad person?

Funny, gory, memorable characters, great action scenes, a full throttle pace...yeah, Miike still has it.

I liked it, but it didn't quite hit my Miike spot. A strange thing to say, but I mean even with Miike you come to expect certain things, and I don't think it was quite there. It's still a really good film, just not what I had expected, nor was in the mood for.

This had an anime vibe, therefore I liked it