Shinjuku Triad Society Explained

Shinjuku Triad Society
Producer:Tetsuya Ikeda
Toshiki Kimura
Ken Takeuchi
Tsutomu Tsuchikawa
Director:Takashi Miike
Starring:
Music:Atorie Shira
Cinematography:Naosuke Imaizumi
Editing:Yasushi Shimamura
Runtime:100 minutes
Country:Japan
Language:

is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike. The film is one of the earliest examples of Miike's use of extreme violence and unusual characterization, two aspects he would become notorious for. The film is part of the Black Society trilogy and is followed by Rainy Dog and Ley Lines.

Plot

The film recounts the interactions of the Dragon's Claw triad society and its homosexual leader Wang Zhi-Ming with a renegade police officer named Tatushito as well as opposing yakuza organizations. When Tatsuhito's younger brother Yoshihito becomes the lawyer to the triad society, an argument between the two brothers leads to the downfall of the organization.

Cast

Actor Role
Kiriya
Wang
Karino
Yakuza boss
Yukie Itou
Kyosuke Izutsu
Kazuhiro Mashiko
Airi Yanagi

Release

Shinjuku Triad Society was released in Japan on 26 August 1995. Arrow Video released the film on Blu-ray on 24 January 2017.[1]

Reception

Sight & Sound noted the film was similar to the gangster films of Kinji Fukasaku, while noting that "scenes such as the one where sodomy is used as a police interrogation technique bear Miike's unmistakable signature."[2] Time Out London stated that "Even viewers hardened to the perversities which tend to crop up in Japanese exploitation genres may find themselves rubbing their eyes at some of the images and incidents in Miike's extremist thriller" and that "Miike's stylish, gleeful direction establishes him as the most distinctive new 'voice' in the genre since Rokuro Mochizuki."[3]

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wilkins . Budd . Blu-ray Review: Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy on Arrow Video . . Slant Magazine LLC . 17 June 2024 . 4 April 2017.
  2. Sight & Sound. Shinjuku Triad Society. Leyland. Matthew. 13. 8. 68. August 2003. British Film Institute. London.
  3. Web site: Shinjuku Triad Society. Time Out London. TR. 10 September 2012 . 25 January 2017.