Dead or Alive (1999)

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Movie
German title Dead or Alive
Original title DEAD OR ALIVE 犯罪 者
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 1999
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 18 (no youth rating)
Rod
Director Takashi Miike
script Ichiro Ryu
production Makoto Okada ,
Katsumi Ono
music Kōji Endō
camera Hideo Yamamoto
cut Yasushi Shimamura
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Dead or Alive 2

Dead or Alive ( Japanese DEAD OR ALIVE 犯罪 者 , Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha , Eng. "Dead or Alive: Criminal") is a Japanese gangster film by director Takashi Miike from 1999.

The film is the first in a series of films that continued with Dead or Alive 2 in 2000 and ended with Dead or Alive: Final in 2002.

action

The film is about two different people, a gangster and a police officer, who both don't know each other at first. In the end, both develop into adversaries.

The emotionless Ryūichi, son of Chinese immigrants, is gradually taking over the supremacy of the Tokyo district of Shinjuku as the violent and unscrupulous leader of a small gang . With his followers, he disrupts the delicate balance between the Japanese yakuza and the Chinese triads . In this phase Ryūichi's younger brother Toji comes back from studying abroad from the United States, which his brother made possible for him through his criminal machinations. Toji does not agree with the criminal lifestyle of the aspiring Ryūichi, which inevitably leads to a conflict that gradually swells.

In the midst of the bloody power struggles is the dutiful police officer Jojima, who, due to private problems, besides the alienation of his wife, plagues him with the serious illness of their daughter, takes refuge in his job. He is charged with investigating various murders. The frustrated detective, who urgently needs 20 million yen for an expensive heart operation on his daughter, cannot raise the sum.

Meanwhile, Ryūichi is planning a big coup with the Chinese mafia from Taiwan , which is pushing hard drugs into the Japanese market. He initially plays off the two established groups, the yakuza and the triads, against each other. Since the long-established organizations in their district do not tolerate competition, he later puts everything on one card. At a meeting of high-ranking underworld greats on both sides, he and his remaining followers cause a brutal massacre to which all the guests involved, as well as his brother Toji, who suddenly appear, fall victim.

Before that there was the first encounter between Jojima and Ryūichi. The investigating police officer came through intermediaries on the trail of Ryūichis, whom he saw in direct connection with mysterious murder cases; However, he was not yet able to assess the exact position within the organizational structure, so that he was released again. In saying goodbye, the melancholy policeman swore to his opponent that one day he would be hunted down.

When Jojima's daughter's condition deteriorates dramatically, the detective is forced to quickly obtain the operation sum. He then breaks with the usual tactics of "balance" in his area, a questionable and usual inactivity towards the pursuit of organized crime, and embarks on a dangerous path. After moderate waves of arrests, he extorted money from yakuza bosses for his daughter's vital operation. The committed fighting father does not even shrink from murder.

Events soon overturned. Jojima has a spectacular search success, and he is able to secure Ryūichi's first drug delivery from Taiwan - much to the displeasure of the recipient, who takes control of the Japanese market at different times. The situation escalates. In revenge, the gang boss then carried out an attack on Jojima's vehicle, but only killed his family. At the end of the film, the two dissimilar men, both deprived of their families, face each other in an inexorable and hopeless final situation. Seriously wounded by an exchange of fire, their deadly conflict ends in an apocalyptic ending, a manga-like atomic explosion beyond the limits of reality.

Reviews

“Unusual gangster film, which after a furious start tries through a fragmented dramaturgy to describe the fragmentation of a world that no longer knows any rules. The director avoids all sensational effects in favor of a static and distanced narrative attitude, which nonetheless ensures a high degree of inner tension. "

“[...] the films of the Japanese Takashi Miikes perform a crazy montage of Japanese society [...] The opening sequence [...] works apart from any narrative logic and determination only via a hysterically composed staccato of bodies, movements and Japanese heavy metal: pure acceleration . "

- Andreas Busche 

“With their orgiastic-surreal brutality, the opening and closing sequences break every viewing habit. In the main part, however, Miike shines with an almost meditative narrative rhythm. The contrast between long, exquisitely composed shots and excesses of violence is reminiscent of films by Takeshi Kitano. In fact, his cameraman Yamamoto was at work here. "

- Cinema 

Awards

Japanese Professional Movie Awards
  • 2000: Special Award for Riki Takeuchi
Tokyo International Film Festival
  • 1999: Asian Film Award - Special Mention for Takashi Miike

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dead or Alive. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ^ Andreas Busche: Dead or Alive / Audition. In: Filmzentrale (from the taz ). Andreas Thomas, accessed March 30, 2008 .
  3. Olaf Tarmas: Dead or Alive. Retrieved June 14, 2009 .