First Love (2019; Hatsukoi) combines a couple of my favourite sub-genres: One Wild Night and Multiple Parties Want One Thing. Directed by the prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Blade Of The Immortal), we follow a young boxer Leo (Masataka Kubota) who goes from shiftless to despondent when he receives some bad news after a surprising loss. Walking the Tokyo streets at night, the boxer punches out someone chasing a frightened girl, Monica (Sakurako Konishi) who has been given to the Yakuza as a sex worker by her debt-ridden father. Unknown to them, Monica has been made the patsy of a plot to rip off a bag of drugs from the Yakuza by a baby-faced underling (Shota Sometani) and a gormless corrupt cop (Nao Ōmori). As Leo and Monica get to know each other, wandering the streets, the thieves’ plan is altered by unforeseen problems and gang war tensions between The Yakuza and a Chinese gang are ignited to cover tracks. Half of this movie is set up as we are introduced to a variety of characters – all archetypes but sharply defined – which builds to an eventual collision where everything descends into mayhem in a climax set within a hardware and sporting goods warehouse. There are lots of distinctive looking performers in the mix – my favourite might be an unstoppable girlfriend out for revenge (Becky) – and it has a neo-noir energy, which pays tribute to Yakuza movies from the past (Ken Takakura is name-checked) and those influenced by Miike’s work like Quentin Tarantino (there are shades of True Romance and Pulp Fiction here). As with anyone familiar with Miike’s considerable output, there is some brutal violence and ghoulish humour, but this also has a sweet nature in the developing relationship between Leo and Monica. Koji Endo provides a score that mixes jazz fusion with metal. Very entertaining if you’re into dark comedy crime thrillers; this is available to rent/purchase on iTunes but also now available to stream on SBS On Demand. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 