Kamikaze Taxi

Kamikaze Taxi (stylized as KAMIKAZE TAXI in Japan) is a 1995 Japanese action and crime film by director Masato Harada. The film is about Tatsuo (Kazuya Takahashi), a gangster and pimp who sends out his only prostitute (Reiko Kataoka) to service a politician. When she returns beaten, Tatsuo's girlfriend complains but is killed by crime boss Animaru (Mickey Curtis). Tatsuo seeks revenge as he and his gang vandalize the politician's house and steal money. In retaliation, Tatsuo's bosses put a hit out on them. He flees, riding in the taxi driven by a Peruvian Japanese named Kantake (Kōji Yakusho). The film was shown at the 1995 London Film Festival and actor Mickey Curtis won the Kinema Junpo Award for best supporting actor in 1996 for his work in the film.

Kamikaze Taxi
Directed byMasato Harada
Written byMasato Harada
Produced byAkio Nanjo
Kazunori Okada
Narihiko Yoshida
Susumu Tanaka
Yoshinori Moniwa
StarringKōji Yakusho
Kazuya Takahashi
Reiko Kataoka
Takeshi Caesar
Mickey Curtis
Taketoshi Naito
Edited byHirohide Abe
Music byMasahiro Kawasaki
Release date
  • April 25, 1995 (1995-04-25) (Japan)
Running time
134 minutes
CountryJapan

Production

The soundtrack for Kamikaze Taxi was composed by Masahiro Kawasaki, who used Peruvian pipes. To deal with the Peruvian-Japanese taxi driver character in the film, director Masato Harada had Kawasaki listen to tapes of Peruvian music to come up with a similar sound.[1]

Release

Kamikaze Taxi was released in Japan on April 25, 1995.[2] The film was shown at the 1995 London Film Festival.[3]

Reception

Mickey Curtis won the Kinema Junpo Award for best supporting actor in 1996 for his work in the film.[2] Time magazine stated that "the narrative is overly long (160 minutes) and lacks cohesion. But the film has an epic lunacy, a satiric darkness. Its neon-lit nightscapes and vivid brutality dance, shock--and leave the viewer both riveted and repulsed."[4] Variety also commented on the films length, noting "Though the film could easily lose a quarter of an hour from a self-indulgent sequence in a group-therapy clinic, there's actually very little slackness during the 170-minute running time."[5]

Cast

Notes
  1. Gatto, Robin. "Masato Harada". Midnight Eye. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  2. "ＫＡＭＩＫＡＺＥ ＴＡＸＩ(邦画)". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  3. "Kamikaze Taxi (1995)". Time Out. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  4. Short, Stephen (November 16, 1998). "The Cab Ride From Hell". Time. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  5. Elley, Derek (December 18, 1995). "Kamikaze Taxi". Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
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