Ley Lines (film)

Ley Lines (Japanese: 日本黒社会 LEY LINES, Hepburn: Nihon Kuroshakai Rei Rainzu, literally "Japan Underworld: Ley Lines") is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, and is the third film in his Black Society trilogy, following 1995's Shinjuku Triad Society and 1997's Rainy Dog. 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. The English title refers to ley lines, the paranormal concept of geographic lines of energy based on the placement of landmarks.

Ley Lines
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTakashi Miike
Screenplay byIchiro Ryu[1]
Produced byToshiki Kimura[1]
Starring
CinematographyNaosuke Imaizumi[1]
Edited byYasushi Shimamura[1]
Music byKoji Endo[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byDaiei[1]
Release date
  • May 22, 1999 (1999-05-22) (Japan)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguagesJapanese
Mandarin
Taiwanese Hokkien

Plot

Ryuichi, his younger brother Shunrei, and their friend Chang are a trio of Japanese youths of Chinese descent who escape their semi-rural upbringing and relocate to Shinjuku, Tokyo. Their wallets are stolen by a Shanghai prostitute nicknamed "Killer Pussy" so they turn to selling bottles of the recreational inhalant toluene in order to earn money. They later make up with the prostitute, whose real name is Anita, when she quits selling her body after being abused by a client and then her pimp.

The three youths buy fake passports and a gun through the black market, intending to stow away on a boat to Brazil. Together with Anita, they rob money from the Chinese crime boss Wong, during which Anita kicks her former pimp. Ikeda and Barbie of the toluene ring ambush them and shoot Chang before the others escape. Triad members arrive and Barbie tells them that Ikeda took the money before they shoot him dead. Chang dies in the car after asking the others to give his share of the money to his mother. Shunrei quickly pedals his bike to the Zhang Fu Diner and gives Chang's mother Chang's share of the money but is caught and run over by Wong's men in a truck on his way back. While Ryuichi and Anita are searching for him, Wong's men spot them and chase them in the truck before smashing into a pile of corrugated metal and dying.

Ryuichi and Anita reach the port and give money to the shipowner but discover Wong waiting for them. Anita shoots Wong dead, then Ryuichi and Anita jump into the water and money goes floating everywhere as Wong's men fire repeatedly into the water. Ryuichi and Anita are then shown rowing a boat away, though they are covered in blood, presumably indicating that they are already dead.

Cast

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
  1. Mes 2006, p. 389.
  2. Leyland, Matthew (November 2003). "Ley Lines". Sight & Sound. Vol. 13, no. 11. London: British Film Institute. p. 68.
  3. 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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