Red-Barracuda
Well, what can I say? That was something a bit different! If I had known in advance that what I was about to watch was a Japanese hip-hop musical about warring gangs in an alternate Tokyo, I suspect at least a few alarm bells might have gone off. The idea is so wilfully absurd that the movie could easily fall into car crash territory. But you are probably thinking that there is a 'however' coming up here and you would indeed be correct, as in the event Tokyo Tribe proved to be a properly exhilarating movie experience. The originality on display was pretty mind-boggling not just in terms of basic idea but also in execution. There is a story but I realised pretty early on that paying full attention to it was not really a primary requirement. Needless to say, I can't actually be bothered summarising the plot synopsis. What this one is resolutely all about is style over substance. For some viewers that is a cinematic crime but I personally think that we get a little too much 'substance' and not anywhere near enough genuine style in our modern movies. Tokyo Tribe is an example of a film that is great, great style and is pure cinema from start to finish.Seemingly it was based on a manga comic, which isn't exactly surprising given the sheer insanity that unfolds on the screen. It has an extremely colourful aesthetic with great sets and costuming. The look is constantly interesting and surprising, a fantastic spectacle overall. But this crazy film also has most of its dialogue rapped as well. I hadn't even been aware of Japanese hip-hop before this so it was an education I can tell you. The style of filming with lots of long takes was somewhat similar to the style that many rap music videos adopted, so this is another disparate element mixed into the overall concoction. So what do we have here? Well, we have martial arts fighting (although not so much so that it gets overbearing), some good old fashioned sexploitation elements, a beat-boxing maid, a Mr Big gangster with an ever-present dildo, human furniture, a tank driving Samurai, a super-strong black henchman, (very) cute Japanese women of various shapes and sizes, some men with misguided hair-cuts, a wheel of death, a depressed youth in a hoodie who pitches up every so often like a Greek Chorus, comic-book violence and bling weaponry. There is even more going on than this as well but that's the best I can do for now. On the whole, this is a highly entertaining action-comedy-musical with a real energy and originality. This really does define the term one of a kind!
OverlordFresh
Sion Sono seems to be entering a new phase in his career that is just incredible. With 6 films set to be released in 2015 alone, and putting the insanity of Why Don't You Play In Hell and Tokyo Tribe into consideration, I think it's safe to say that Sion Sono is the new Takashi Miike. Only better since Sono actually writes his owns movies.If you are asking "where can he go after doing Why Don't You Play In Hell?", the answer is Tokyo Tribe. The movie is an instant cult classic and one of the most ambitiously original films of his career that I doubt any other director could pull off. He dubs it as "the worlds first battle rap musical", and it definitely is. Over 90% of the dialog is rapped. Most of the shots are in long masterful takes. While it's not as gory as Why Don't You Play In Hell, the action is nearly non stop and absolutely mind blowing. The sets in this film are truly a site to behold. He said at TIFF that he employed a lot of students to make them. The all around visual style of this film is just unreal. The only film I could compare this to would be Sogo Ishii's Burst City. Both are musicals that chronicle Japanese music scenes of the time with a very loose plot connecting it all together. Like Burst City, it's not about the plot, it's about the visual and musical experience. Sion Sono took a risk that most film directors of his calibre wouldn't even dare and he pulled it off masterfully. Love Exposure will always be his supreme masterpiece, but I can safely say that I rank Tokyo Tribe among his best films, and i've nearly seem them all.Some people who hate hip hop may hate this movie. I myself am a major hip hop nerd but I don't see that as bias, If anything It made me more concerned before watching but wow. This movie rules and is the best musical in ages and the only good hip hop musical ever produced.Neva Eva Die
politic1983
I've been to Tokyo, and it is just like this...if 'this' is 'Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo'. Sion Sono's latest film is certainly an experience.I first came across 'Tokyo Tribe', that is to say to strangely titled 'Tokyo Tribe 2', while in, erm, Tokyo. Bored, and looking for a new anime series to entertain, I searched my local 'Book Off' and came across something that looks like it might combine both anime and hip hop in a way that only 'Samurai Champloo' could do before it. On the cheap (for Japan), I purchased volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the DVD collection, being that 3 and 6 were unavailable on that day. Being that I was in Japan, there was no need for English translations on these bad boys, so I could merely watch the interesting images and listen to the fat beats which were contained within. Loosely, the plot centres around the Mushashino Saru gang, a group of fun-loving kids that hang out at a diner. But, being just one of twenty-three gangs in Tokyo, all representing their 'hood in their own unique way, they soon find their peaceful lives caught up in gang wars. It's 'The Warriors' in Japanese.The anime of Santa Inoue's manga comes with GTA-style breakdowns of the characters, the gangs, the locations, the eateries involved in this semi-fictional Tokyo world. I like the anime (not that I understand it, wakarimashita?!), with the music and style; seriousness and comedy, but mainly the ending credits, which always need to deliver in an anime series. So, now comes the live-action version from bum-crampingly- long film director Sono: a man that might have one said that both Miike Takashi and Kitano Takeshi are both 'dead', but also might have not. When turning a cartoon into a live-action, it's always interesting to the approach that will be taken. Sono certainly takes some interesting ones here. The first notable one is that this being a hip hop anime, 90% of what is said is 'rapped', with a combination of actors trying their best and some Japanese wordsmiths making up the cast. What starts off as interesting, soon starts to feel like a potentially irritating gimmick, before you settle into it and it becomes natural. After two hours of this, you will only want to speak in rap-form...in Japanese. The second noticeable element is that of bling. Hip hop is always something that I feel is very anti-Japanese. Despite my love of both Japanese culture and hip hop, the loud, brash, bragging rights world of hip hop simply doesn't fit with that image of polite and respectful Japanese. But, being a man that regularly listens to Japanese ragga on vinyl, this cross-culture exists, and my Japanese hip hop collections is ever on the increase. But the US gangsta ethic feels a little strange in Japanese, with many of the gangs coming straight out of a comic book. But this is straight out of a comic book, and so some poetic license needs to be allowed here. When watching characters in animated form, it is acceptable for them to be larger than life and somewhat unbelievable, but you're always unsure how to take them when they're actual humans. The sick and twisted characters certainly are that in Sono's 'Tokyo Tribe', and the gang colours come across as much hilarious as threatening. Reality is not the name of the game here, with 'Tokyo Tribe' feeling very much like a game of 'GTA': not feeling in anyway based on real- life, but a dream world men wish they lived in, but would run from as soon as it was in their face. This is, therefore, pure silliness in a can...of film, the film's farcical conclusion in-line with the rest of the two hours. There are good and bad elements in this film: The good include the rapping, which is interesting and gives the film a rhythm, though maybe not a linear plot. while the rappers in the cast can obviously hold their own, novices, like actor Shota Sometani take on a lot of rapping and while not blessed with talent can pull it off for the duration. There is certainly a lot of invention here as well, with creative set designs in-line with the manga and anime. But with all that rapping and less-than-coherent plot, this is at times a little long and at times disjointed. But, much like Miike Takashi - a man he will inevitably be compared to - before him, Sono is a creative director that will keep churning them out, not dwelling too much on how films are received, working on what new and crazy things to do next...Tokyo Tribe, never ever die...
