From what I've seen so far, it looks as though it's general practice to start a review for a Takashi Miike movie by talking about either the man and his style or by talking about the first time I saw a "Takashi Movie." However, like the maestro (yes, most assuredly he is a maestro) himself, I find it rather fun to break the rules and play with expectations; besides, if you don't know who Takashi Miike is by now, you should be more worried about crawling out of your cave and reconnecting with the world than with reading my review (still, if you need to redeem yourself and 'catch up,' check out some older reviews--Sabu, Full Metal Yakuza, Dead or Alive, etc.). As for me, I'll start things off (after my elitist intro that's just a ploy to get you to read more articles on this site, that is) by thanking Artsmagic DVD, which, with its release of the Black Society Trilogy, now counts five Takashi Miike films in its catalogue despite the fact that this is only its first year in the US. Coincidentally, this is close to the rate at which Mr. Miike produces his films, though the comparison doesn't end there: what's truly amazing is that, even while working at this mind-boggling rate, both Miike and Artsmagic manage to produce work of consistently high quality.

The first piece of the Black Society Trilogy on my critical docket is 1995's Shinjuku Triad Society (which bears the subtitle 'China Mafia War'), which currently holds the honor of being the earliest entry in Miike's oeuvre to have received American DVD exposure. Of course, that doesn't mean in any way that it's less entertaining than Miike's later product, for all the quiddities of a Miike gangster film are here in abundance: surprising/shocking violence, seedy sex, the examination of family and race in modern Japan, etc. This isn't one of those typical 'working out his style and themes' early-career movies. Shinjuku perfectly illustrates that Takashi Miike has always had a strong directoral voice, and I found it in my humble opinion one of the best of Miike's films.

So what's it about? Well, things begin at a rather quick pace, kind of like a predecessor to Dead or Alive's infamously manic prologue. Dead bodies litter the streets of Shinjuku, remnants of a powerful yakuza clan. The Shinjuku police swarm around, investigating the crime. Our hero, the Sino-Japanese tough-guy cop Tatsuhito, is lead to a nearby nightclub. In here he finds three members of the gang thought responsible, which is headed by the gay Taiwanese immigrant Wang (Tomorowo Taguchi, who is fast becoming one of my favorite Japanese actors). The first member of the gang is Ritsuko, a prostitute and girlfriend to one of the gang's higher-ups. The second is a man being fellated in a bathroom by the third, a young Chinese kid who is the boyfriend of Wang. The first two members are apprehended, though Wang's lover manages to escape, disappearing into the dark alleys of Shinjuku, though not before killing a cop who gets in his way (in a shot that looks like it could have come right out of Ichi the Killer).

Back at the station, Tatsuhito, obsessed with destroying Wang's syndicate (in part because Shinjuku's other prominent yakuza gang has been bribing him, rendering itself untouchable), interrogates the victims from the club, using violence if they're unwilling to speak. After enough interrogation, Tatsuhito learns of a hospital Wang has built in Taiwan, which could be a useful lead in the investigation. Unfortunately, just after this, he also learns that his younger brother, Yoshihito, is working as the gang's legal representative. Naturally, as a police officer, even an abusive and corrupt one and concerned older brother, Tatsuhito finds this troubling news, though he doesn't let it sway him in his quest; indeed, it only strengthens his resolve to destroy the gang, since doing so would save Yoshihito.

As Tatsuhito investigates Wang's past during a visit to Taiwan, Wang's clan gains power back in Shinjuku, forming a dubious alliance with the local yakuza (the same one that is bribing Tatsuhito). Soon, it's revealed that Wang has been plotting the yakuza's downfall and violence erupts, meaning Tatsuhito will have to be quite cunning indeed if he wishes to save his brother and stop Wang before his syndicate gains control of the entire Shinjuku district.

What ends up being so striking about Shinjuku Triad Society is how deep of a film it actually is; it operates on a number of different levels, and, as such, warrants a good deal of analysis. On one level Shinjuku examines violence in society and paints a portrait of a world so hardened that truly no one in it is all good. Indeed, there's no one personage in Shinjuku who is a perfectly sympathetic character. Tatsuhito, while having noble aspirations of stopping Wang's crime syndicate, still is not beyond using cruelty to achieve his goals, nor is he beyond being bribed by the local yakuza. Shinjuku shows us a world where even a wide-eyed innocent like Wang's young lover is capable of horrendous sadism, where even the police are so hardened to the violence around them that they pose cheerfully with severed heads in crime scene photos.

Yet, even being set in such a cruel world, Shinjuku still manages to examine morality by giving the audience a choice: do we sympathize with Tatsuhito, a man so hardened to savagery that he will rape a girl in his pursuit of a noble goal, or do we sympathize with Wang, a man who, while acting immorally and illegally, is still capable of love, and, in a twisted way, kind of works like a Robin Hood, taking from the prosperous Japanese and giving to the destitute Taiwanese via the hospital? The question of whose ends most justifies his means is a fascinating one, for, while the characters of Wang and Tatsuhito seem like clear antagonists and protagonists, closer examination reveals that either could be considered a hero or a villain.

Lastly, the film also serves as a typically-Miike look at race and belonging in modern Japan, since the Chinese heritage of Wang's gang members necessitates that the Sino-Japanese Tatsuhito use his ethnic background to aid him in the investigation, and the fact that Tatsuhito's little brother is a member of Wang's syndicate forces Tatsuhito to examine more closely the importance of family in his life.

And, now that I've spent nigh three paragraphs describing the artistic importance of the film, I can safely say that, in addition to all the highbrow intellectual stimulation it provides, Shinjuku Triad Society also serves as simply a kick-ass Japanese gangster flick. Shinjuku is an absolutely excellent film in all aspects, and I urge you to check it out no matter what level you plan to view it on. On that note, a good way of going about this task would be by picking up a copy of Artsmagic's wonderful DVD, which is well worth the time of any Asian cinema fan, but which should prove particularly mouth-watering for the Takashi Miike aficionados among us (count me in!).

On a technical level, the presentation of Shinjuku mostly belies the film's age: scratches and dirt are very infrequent, and it's certainly nice to view the film in such clean condition, letterboxed (with anamorphic enhancement) at its 1.85:1 ratio. While it is perhaps a little on the dark side, the transfer is otherwise fine and the presentation facilities an enjoyable viewing experience. Audio is similarly acceptable all around, and the removable subtitles show improvement over past Artsmagic releases (this, I've found, has habitually been their one minor problem). Past instances of subtitles being either missing or only flashing on briefly have been all but eliminated (it happened once), and they've been proofread better for that matter, too (again, only one mistake). I'm happy to say that Artsmagic seems to have pegged the one chink in its armor.

As for extras, the disk includes Artsmagic's usual generous array of supplements, all of which are quite interesting. Starting things off are text bios and filmographies for the cast and director, a few DVD covers and synopses for other Artsmagic releases (in this case just the Black Society Trilogy, which seems a little redundant, but oh well), and the film's theatrical trailer (with optional English subtitles).

Artsmagic's usual sumptuous array of interviews is also included. On this disk we get a brief chat with Miike's editor, Yasushi Shimamura, along with two interviews with Takashi himself. One interview is only about five minutes long and doesn't add too much, though the other, a half-hour segment, is, in my opinion, one of the best 'talking head' pieces I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure what could have caused it, but Miike comes off as more accessible than ever before, talking candidly about the creation of this film and about moviemaking in general and, in an absolutely stunning moment, actually cracking a smile (I swear this is the first time I've seen him do it and I've seen many interviews with him).

Finally, things wrap up with another great commentary by 'official' (or so I've dubbed him) Miike scholar Tom Mes who, in addition to explaining the messages behind Miike's film, looks at everything from shot composition and color usage to the film's presentation of homosexuality to references to this film that can be found in Full Metal Yakuza (Wang's character exposes himself at several points in this movie, which is what Taguchi's doing so at the end of Full Metal referenced, if you were wondering). All in all the commentary is a fascinating listen, partly because the film provides so much gist for the analytical mill and partly just because of Mesâ extraordinary, encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese film, which serves to make him a very interesting commentator.

So, all around, Artsmagic has assembled a fantastic package with its release of Shinjuku Triad Society. The film itself is absolutely magnificent, and all of the attention lavished on its presentation and extras really serve to make this a great package; you owe it to yourself to check out the film as soon as possible. As for me, I'm moving on to the Black Society Trilogy's second entry, Rainy Dog. See you there!

Each of the films in the Black Society Trilogy are available individually or in a nifty digi-pak box set, click the links below for more info

Black Society Trilogy Boxset
Shinjuku Triad Society
Rainy Dog
Ley Lines