Shinjuku Triad Society

Rewatching the Black Society trilogy cause it’s been wayyyy too long (a year) 😁

The thing I like about Shinjuku Triad Society compared to other crime movies is this is basically the precursor to Ichi the Killer with how violent and depraved it is. It’s violent, it shows sexual violence towards men and women, depravity is the norm, drug addicts are neglecting and abusing their children, there’s so much grittiness to this movie and it’s just really solid and a damn good first theatrical movie from Takashi Miike.

Rewatching the Black Society trilogy cause it’s been wayyyy too long (a year) 😁

The thing I like about Shinjuku Triad Society compared to other crime movies is this is basically the precursor to Ichi the Killer with how violent and depraved it is. It’s violent, it shows sexual violence towards men and women, depravity is the norm, drug addicts are neglecting and abusing their children, there’s so much grittiness to this movie and it’s just really solid and a damn good first theatrical movie from Takashi Miike.

I like the beginning and end but the rest of this movie didn’t really do it for me.

I like the beginning and end but the rest of this movie didn’t really do it for me.

33rd Miike Movie! 

Who the fuck starts a trilogy off like that I just sat down! 

Seriously this is a fucked up movie and I was not expecting it to be this way AT ALL. Not a single character in this is redeemable or good in any way and just wow this was so much more disturbing and brutal than I thought it was gonna be. 

This is one of Miike’s more extreme movies and there is a lot of rape and messed up shit which isnt very surprising to most cause it’s Miike after all but like I think the main reason why people see Miike more as a controversial director or that he just makes messed up shit is because yes, Miike makes family friendly movies like Katakuris or the Zebraman movies but when he decides to make a messed up movie, it’s like some shit you’ve never seen or even thought about and it’s shocking every single time. But at the same time, this was his first feature film so maybe this was a beginning to what would soon become his really controversial films like Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer. 

Almost forgot to mention that this is his first feature film and damn it is really impressive. I really think that this is a solid start to the trilogy and since I just got my Black Society trilogy box set I’m really hoping that the movies just get better with every entry cause the Dead or Alive trilogy started off amazing then it sucked with the final one so I’m hoping for the best here!

33rd Miike Movie! 

Who the fuck starts a trilogy off like that I just sat down! 

Seriously this is a fucked up movie and I was not expecting it to be this way AT ALL. Not a single character in this is redeemable or good in any way and just wow this was so much more disturbing and brutal than I thought it was gonna be. 

This is one of Miike’s more extreme movies and there is a lot of rape and messed up shit which isnt very surprising to most cause it’s Miike after all but like I think the main reason why people see Miike more as a controversial director or that he just makes messed up shit is because yes, Miike makes family friendly movies like Katakuris or the Zebraman movies but when he decides to make a messed up movie, it’s like some shit you’ve never seen or even thought about and it’s shocking every single time. But at the same time, this was his first feature film so maybe this was a beginning to what would soon become his really controversial films like Visitor Q and Ichi the Killer. 

Almost forgot to mention that this is his first feature film and damn it is really impressive. I really think that this is a solid start to the trilogy and since I just got my Black Society trilogy box set I’m really hoping that the movies just get better with every entry cause the Dead or Alive trilogy started off amazing then it sucked with the final one so I’m hoping for the best here!

- Miike Marathon - Part 5:

Another early Miike, and surprisingly some of his best visuals. Especially of the bustling city streets. The story is pretty straightforward, and I was luckily able to follow along for the majority of the film (something I struggle with in yakuza films for some reason).However, I think the pacing has a definite lull when the detective visits Taiwan and just sort of wanders around. That definitely halts the momentum of the film.And while Miike usually has sexual scenes throughout all his filmography -and typically in a negative way- I think he went over the top in this one. Don’t think he needed to have that stuff happening so dang much. 

Overall though, definitely not Miike’s worst, and far from his best.

- Miike Marathon - Part 5:

Another early Miike, and surprisingly some of his best visuals. Especially of the bustling city streets. The story is pretty straightforward, and I was luckily able to follow along for the majority of the film (something I struggle with in yakuza films for some reason).However, I think the pacing has a definite lull when the detective visits Taiwan and just sort of wanders around. That definitely halts the momentum of the film.And while Miike usually has sexual scenes throughout all his filmography -and typically in a negative way- I think he went over the top in this one. Don’t think he needed to have that stuff happening so dang much. 

Overall though, definitely not Miike’s worst, and far from his best.

Miike’s first theatrical film! absolutely doesn’t disappoint, full of gritty cinematography, nihilism, awful, troubled characters on both sides, brutal violence and homoeroticism. containing many themes that are now iconic within his work, we get to see them in their early days here. the story is pretty good too, following two brothers and gang wars across Shinjuku, organ harvesting and identity. the landscapes of 90s Shinjuku and Taipei were stunning to look at and compliment the film so well. overall, while it’s plotline isn’t the strongest at times, this is a damn good crime film full of grit and bleakness. highly recommended!

Miike’s first theatrical film! absolutely doesn’t disappoint, full of gritty cinematography, nihilism, awful, troubled characters on both sides, brutal violence and homoeroticism. containing many themes that are now iconic within his work, we get to see them in their early days here. the story is pretty good too, following two brothers and gang wars across Shinjuku, organ harvesting and identity. the landscapes of 90s Shinjuku and Taipei were stunning to look at and compliment the film so well. overall, while it’s plotline isn’t the strongest at times, this is a damn good crime film full of grit and bleakness. highly recommended!