The City of Lost Souls

The City of Lost Souls (Japanese: 漂流街, Hepburn: Hyōryū-gai) is a 2000 Japanese action film directed by Takashi Miike based on a novel by Hase Seishu.

The City of Lost Souls
Directed byTakashi Miike
Produced byKazunari Hashiguchi
Toshiki Kimura
Hiroshi Yamamoto
Written byIchiro Ryu
Based onNovel by Hase Seishu
Music byKōji Endō
CinematographyNaosuke Imaizumi
Edited byYasushi Shimamura
Release date
September 15, 2000 (Toronto International Film Festival)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥2,000,000

Plot

The Brazilian-Japanese criminal Mario hijacks a helicopter and uses a machine gun to attack a prison bus and free his Chinese girlfriend Kei. They attempt to raise money by robbing a cockfight but end up robbing drugs bought by the yakuza Fushimi of the Okayama Group from a Chinese triad boss named Ko moments before. Fushimi's boss demands his finger but Fushimi kills him and takes over his position with the aid of his soldier Yamazaki.

Mario and Kei sell the drugs to a local Brazilian TV broadcaster, who attempts to sell the drugs back to Ko but is beaten then given a message that there is a million-yen reward for Mario and Kei. Mario and Kei fly to Okinawa and are about to stow aboard a boat bound for Tapei then escape to Australia with the aid of their fake passports, but Fushimi abducts Mario's former lover Lucia's blind foster daughter Carla, so Mario and Kei return to Tokyo.

Kei is captured on the street by Riku and brought to Ko, who has always been in love with her. Fushimi and Yamazaki arrive and Ko challenges Fushimi to a ping-pong match, then uses a hidden button to shoot a spinning blade at Fushimi, which Fushimi dodges as Yamazaki shoots and kills Ko. The two yakuza take Kei with them, but Mario arrives and rescues Carla from the Okayama Group's offices before killing Fushimi and rescuing Kei.

Mario and Kei attempt to sail to Taiwan but Carla catches them and shoots them dead with a rifle. A video montage during the credits reveals that Yamazaki and Riku become lovers.

Cast

Other credits
  • Produced by:
    • Kazunari Hashiguchi - producer
    • Toshiki Kimura - producer
    • Yasuyoshi Tokuma - executive producer
    • Tsutomu Tsuchikawa - planner: Daiei
    • Hiroshi Yamamoto - producer
  • Casting: Donna Brower
  • Production Design: Akira Ishige
  • Art Direction: Reiko Kobayashi
  • Assistant Director: Masato Tanno
  • US set decorator: Isabelle Stamper
  • Sound Department: Kenji Shibazaki - sound

Reception

In a positive review of the film, Jesper Sharp of Midnight Eye wrote, "Colourful and exotic or cluttered and chaotic, even if the whole never quite manages to add up to the sum of its parts and lacks the weight of some of his earlier work, Takashi Miike on cruise-control is still a devastating force."[1]

References
  1. http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/the-city-of-lost-souls/
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