Tokyo Tribe | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sion Sono |
Written by | Sion Sono |
Produced by | Yoshinori Chiba Nobuhiro Iizuka Naoko Komuro Shin'ichirō Masuda Ayako Oguchi Kinya Oguchi Tadashi Tanaka Keizō Yuri |
Starring | Ryōhei Suzuki Riki Takeuchi Young Dais |
Cinematography | Daisuke Sōma |
Edited by | Jun'ichi Itō |
Music by | B.C.D.M.G. |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Nikkatsu |
Release date |
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Running time | 116 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Tokyo Tribe (トウキョウ トライブ) is a 2014 Japanese live-action musical action comedy film adaptation of the Japanese manga series Tokyo Tribes by Santa Inoue. It was directed by Sion Sono and was released in Japan on August 30, 2014.[1][2][3]
The film is set in an alternate Japan where street gangs collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes control their respective territories and are in continuous conflict. Mera, the head of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with the violent and sadistic gangster Buppa of Buppa Town with the intent of initiating a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru tribes. When it comes to a confrontation between the two tribes, Mera attempts to kill Kai, a popular member of the Musashino Saru tribe. During the attempt Mera accidentally kills Kai's friend Tera, another member of the Musashino Saru tribe who has been beloved by members of all Tribes since before their formation. This all of the other Tokyo Tribes to join forces against Mera and Buppa's forces, leading to an all-out gang war.
The film earned ¥144.3 million at the Japanese box office by September 14, 2014.[4]
Mike Hale of The New York Times called the film "an eccentric project" even for Sion Sono and found that the biggest problem was the "screenplay by Mr. Sono that doesn't provide much motivation for all the insults, battles and chases (and casual mistreatment of women)".[5]
Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, criticizing its "uninspired violence and misogyny" and found that "the film suggests that these mobsters are driven to conquer only to overcompensate for the inadequacy of their manhoods".[6]
Dennis Harvey of Variety.com also criticized the music, writing that the "soundtrack's mostly generic old-school beats support lyrics by a host of Japanese performers (many of whom have roles here) that are often funny — sometimes inadvertently, but mostly in a deliberately crass, obscene-boasting way" and that "delivery ranges from the decent to the dreadful".[7]