Dead or Alive’s theme is that of Action/Thriller. The start of the film has been both berated and celebrated. Those who berate it say it’s sensationalist, tame and done better elsewhere. Those who celebrate the opening say it’s fresh and original, and violent. I have to say it’s a bit of both.
It begins with two guys fully clothed screwing in the toilets. We cut to the scene of a strip joint and noodle house where a guy is consuming loads of food, with the stripper gyrating for the amusement and pleasure of the men watching. Another guy, dressed in a suit prepares his stance as he puts a rolled up bill to his nose and starts to snort an 8 metre line of coke from table to table.
Some minutes later a guy collects a knife and enters the gents toilets where the guys are screwing. The man doing the screwing is stabbed in the neck, his blood gushing on top of the the guy in front who seems to think the blood is something else as he opens his mouth to collect the contents being sprayed. The man eating his noodles stops eating, turns and finds guys with guns, knowing he is about to die, he tries to run.
The business guy is sitting in traffic when a guy with a shot gun approaches, stands on the roof of the car and shoots the shit of the everyone in there. Finally cut to man who was beginning his escape, shot gun through the stomach throws the contents which are undigested noodles smack in to the screen.
It is sensationalist, it is extravagant and it is partially violent. But it is also tame and been done before, and done better. What needs to be remembered when watching a typical Miike Takashi film is not to take it so seriously, and just remove your brain before watching. Takashi is not always original, and he is extravagant, but his violence is more comic than gratuitous. If you accept all of that, you’ll be in the right frame of mind.
Morals are pretty non-existent, and the rules are bent to their extremity if used. It’s a very dark film, in that happiness is irrelevant here – there is none
Sho Aikawa is the cop after the guy going around killing people, that person being Riki Takeuchi. Riki and his comrades feel betrayed by the Japanese, as they were part of the many Japanese war orphans who were left in China during the invasion. Upon returning to Japan, they were treated as second class citizens, thus there is no love lost between Riki and his ancestors. They hate both the Japanese and Chinese, and become embroiled between a war with cartels from both countries. They are both targets and executioners, wanting the drug routes for themselves.
Riki’s character has brother, who has returned from the Us after being sent there to study. He’s come back as the brainy one, but upon realising his education was paid through executions of others, he feels a deep disdain for his brother and runs away to teach at a school. He wants to part of the violent life his brother follows, but fate has another plan for his life, and not one of peaceful teaching.
Sho Aikawa’s character is, like Riki’s character, in the middle of this war between Riki’s gang, the Chinese, and the Japanese. He tries to keep the peace, while also taking down the drug cartel’s. It’s not helped by the corrupt officials that work at his district, and his bosses are no better. At the same time, his daughter requires a critical operation. They don’t clearly explain what it is, but it’s possibly an abortion or something like cancer. Aikawa’s character seems aware his wife has been having an affair, but he doesn’t demonstrate much interest. He sleeps on the couch instead of with his wife, not because he hates his wife, but he finds it easier to sleep there. His daughter hates him since she never seems him, and so he is both the outsider amongst the criminals and police, as well as in his own household. The only constant seems to be catching the criminals, with his colleague, who lives a similar life.
As each of Riki’s gang are taken down one by one, as the body counts increase, and as Aikawa investigates further into the drug trade and stops shipping routes, Aikawa and Riki come closer and closer, through indirect means. Riki is disgruntled by Aikawa’s interference in the routes, and sets out to take Aikawa down. Aikawa goes after Riki once Riki inflicts some major pain, and it ends in a showdown.
The initial show down is logical at first, but then it goes into the realms of lunatic fantasy. The film turns on its head, and it turns into some freakish sci-fi ending that completely contrasts with the entirety of the film. Throw away any common sense and plausibility, as the ending is not what you expect. Takashi himself has been quoted as seeing how far he could push the limits of the rules of film making, and to see if he it would turn out to be a turkey. It turns he made a cult success, and he got away with the ending, as he ended up making two sequels, which are equally absurd in many respects.
It is sensationalist, it is extravagant and it is partially violent. But it is also tame and been done before, and done better
Dead or Alive is quite slow a third into the movie, and I can see what was attempted, but others may find it dull or boring when they reach that point. If the aim is to watch a film of ultra violence, I wouldn’t recommend this as there far more ultra violent films out there. As a thriller, it does pretty well and does engage the audience. It also contains Takashi’s trademark of sensationalism, in Dead or Alive we get a girl high on drugs, thrown into a rubber pool, excreting faeces and being drowned in it. The ending may annoy many, but it can be viewed as an insult to those who watched the film through or as Takashi’s attempt at a metaphor. If you are of the easily annoyed type, I would stop the film at the last confrontation when the car explodes, if you’re open minded, watch it to the end.
The film’s characters are pretty unsympathetic, and you don’t feel any attachment to anyone. It’s an apathetic bunch who don’t really seem to give a shit about anyone until they’re gone. Morals are pretty non-existent, and the rules are bent to their extremity if used. It’s a very dark film, in that happiness is irrelevant here – there is none. The camera direction is quite interesting, mixing NYPD Blue-esque shaking and freedom, to fixed positions, and then insane dizzying free form camera work. It keeps the film lively, and seems to accentuate the pace of the action scenes in particular.
This is Miike Takashi with his film making in the stages of being more focused and rigid in structure. There further examples of where Takashi was headed with his career, and this is one of them. By watching his films, you can see that he was more than capable of making something as interesting as Audition, and how far he could go in pushing the boundaries of taste.
Verdict: Decent thriller, with some good action. Not for the easily offended.