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Picture
First Love. (15.)
 
​​Directed by Takeshi Miike.


Starring Becky, Masataka Kubota, Jun Murakami, Shota Sometani and Nao Omori. Japanese and Chinese with subtitles. 107 mins.


Takeshi Miike directs films at a rate broadly equivalent to that which Michael Caine used to act in them, and with a similar range in quality. His 103rd movie, like many of those he's made over the last three decades, is a gangster flick and one of the very best. This is a twisty and twisted piece of comic crime mayhem that stand comparison with the work of all the usual names that get mentioned when discussing excellence in this area.


Over a long night in Tokyo, a pair of innocents (boxer Masataka Kubota, and a girl, Becky, given to the Yakuza by her father to cover his debts) get caught up in a turf war involving double-crosses and shoot outs. It's a bravura display of callous comedy, packed with invention and the occasional moment of tenderness, just enough to justify the title. It's a tremendous entertainment, proof that practice makes perfect.

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