07/01/06 Kamikaze Girls

Kamikaze Girls (2004), directed by Tetsuya Nakashima

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Oh, the Japanese can create such imaginative and wondrous worlds of violence, decadence and cyber-space. They can also supply us with some of the most twisted and bizarre imagery ever filmed. This candy-coated joyride teeters on that fence of curiosity, taking parts of both and letting us enjoy the view from atop its pointed perch. Delve with me if you will, into a modern day comic book come to life in Tokyo, via the small town of Shimotsuma. Momoko (played by Japanese pop idol Kyoko Fukada) is a young dreamer who'd rather be supplanted into Rococo era (a reactionary elobartion on the grandeur of Baroque style) 18th century France than in her small Shimotsuma. Playing the period part to the hilt, Momoko dresses in frilly doll-like Lolita fashion; the exact opposite of the modern day Westernized-company-logo-emblazoned stylings of her teenage peers. Her father is a scheming salesman who hocks knock-off designs of Versace and Universal Studios gear (it's funny to hear the cover-up "bleeps" in the movie as people say these trademarked names). Momoko uses the popularity of these items in Tokyo to help fund her fancy tastes for buying her Lolita fashions from glamorous designer label Baby, The Stars Shine Bright (an actual trendy spot begun by Akinori Isobe in 1988...www.babyssb.co.jp/index.html). It's upon her scheme that she stumbles across a potential buyer, and eventual friend in Ichiko (played by Japanese model & rock icon Anna Tsuchiya). Ichiko just so happens to be the fearless leader of a revered (and stylish punk-rock "yanki") motorbike (yes, not motorcylce but motorbike) gang called the Ponytails. It's an odd pairing of the two, but they each balance one another in spirit and toughness. At first butting heads in their differing natures, they soon grow very close (in an almost romantic way) becoming a united front in their very surreal world, at any cost. Based on the famous graphic novel by Novala Takemoto, the movie comes to life in brilliant colors, characters and insane action. Even though the girls' worlds seem so abstract from reality, it slowly pulls you into them and doesn't let go. I've never been a big fan of Anime-style stories, which can go extremely off the deep end of rational thought...but I always tend to love absurdist fantasy/adventure stories like this one. Go figure. This is kind of like a cross between "Thelma & Lousie" and any mystical animation Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") has ever done. It's sugary sweet and bloody ruthless in the same bite.

5 out of 5 stars