Tokyo Tribe (film)

Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ) is a 2014 Japanese live-action musical crime comedy film based on Santa Inoue's Tokyo Tribes manga series. It was directed by Sion Sono and was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.[1][2][3]

Tokyo Tribe
Film poster
トウキョウ トライブ
Directed bySion Sono
Written bySion Sono
Based onTokyo Tribes by Santa Inoue
Produced byYoshinori Chiba
Nobuhiro Iizuka
Naoko Komuro
Shin'ichirō Masuda
Ayako Oguchi
Kinya Oguchi
Tadashi Tanaka
Keizō Yuri
StarringRyōhei Suzuki
Riki Takeuchi
Young Dais
CinematographyDaisuke Sōma
Edited byJun'ichi Itō
Music byB.C.D.M.G.
Production
companies
Django Film
From First Production Co.
Nikkatsu
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
  • August 30, 2014 (2014-08-30)
(Japan)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

The film is set in an alternate Japan where street gangs collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes control their respective territories and are in continuous conflict. Mera, the head of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with the violent and sadistic gangster Buppa of Buppa Town with the intent of initiating a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru tribes. When it comes to a confrontation between the two tribes, Mera attempts to kill Kai, a popular member of the Musashino Saru tribe. During the attempt Mera accidentally kills Kai's friend Tera, another member of the Musashino Saru tribe who has been beloved by members of all Tribes since before their formation. This causes all of the other Tokyo Tribes to join forces against Mera and Buppa's forces, leading to an all-out gang war.

Tokyo Tribe mirrors apocalyptic art house violence, horror musical and tribalistic themes from films such as Mad Max, Do the Right Thing, Rocky Horror Picture Show and various Tarantino films. The film is almost entirely scripted in old-school hip-hop rhyme.

Cast

Box office

The film earned ¥144.3 million at the Japanese box office by September 14, 2014.[5]

Reception

Mike Hale of The New York Times called the film "an eccentric project" even for Sion Sono and found that the biggest problem was the "screenplay by Mr. Sono that doesn't provide much motivation for all the insults, battles and chases (and casual mistreatment of women)".[6]
Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, criticizing its "uninspired violence and misogyny" and found that "the film suggests that these mobsters are driven to conquer only to overcompensate for the inadequacy of their manhoods".[7]
Dennis Harvey of Variety.com also criticized the music, writing that the "soundtrack's mostly generic old-school beats support lyrics by a host of Japanese performers (many of whom have roles here) that are often funny — sometimes inadvertently, but mostly in a deliberately crass, obscene-boasting way" and that "delivery ranges from the decent to the dreadful".[8]

References
  1. "Live-Action Tokyo Tribe Film's Trailer Features a Rap Battle". Anime News Network. August 20, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  2. "Tokyo Tribe (2014)". allcinema.net (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  3. Tokyo Tribe at IMDb
  4. 園子温「TOKYO TRIBE」に佐藤隆太、窪塚洋介、染谷将太ら豪華キャスト結集 : 映画ニュース [Ryuta Sato, Yosuke Kubozuka, Shota Sometani and other gorgeous casts gather in Sion Sono's TOKYO TRIBE: Eiga News]. Eiga.com (in Japanese). 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  5. "Japanese Box Office, September 13–14". Anime News Network. September 22, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  6. Hale, Mike (22 October 2015). "Review: 'Tokyo Tribe,' Sion Sono's Hip-Hop Musical". The New York Times.
  7. Tsai, Martin (22 October 2015). "'Tokyo Tribe' transfers hip-hop culture to Japan with uninspired violence and misogyny". Los Angeles Times.
  8. Harvey, Dennis (7 September 2014). "Film Review: 'Tokyo Tribe'".
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