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Kiriya (Kippei Shina) and Wang (Tomorowo Taguchi) are both men of
Taiwanese descent who have relocated to Japan, but never felt fully
accepted by Japanese society at large ... which is already where the
similarities end, as Kiriya has become a police detective - who at times
bends the laws beyond breaking point to get his man, and who feels
perfectly comfortable dishing out police brutalitiy -, Wang's a gangster
who's known for his brutal approach to his job that also includes killing
opponents in cold blood. Of course, their respective vocations make them
natural opponents, but problem is, Kiriya hasn't got a hint of evidence to
book Wang ... and that's very problematic because Kiriya's younger brother
Yoshihito (Shinsuke Izutsu) works for Wang, and Kiriya desperately tries
to keep his brother on the straight and narrow and make a righteous lawyer
out of him, but with Wang as his partner, Yoshihito is more likely to walk
down a different path ... Kiriya seizes the opportunity to do some
research in Taiwan when he has to fly a prisoner over to the local
authorities, and he finds out about a hospital that Wang's financing there
- that is part of an organ smuggling ring. Thing is, Wang has found out
about Kiriya's investigations, and back in Japan, Kiriya becomes the
hunted and almost ends up an unwilling organ donor himself ... After
spending some years making direct-to-video fare, Shinjuku Triad Society
was director Takashi Miike's first theatrical feature - and it showed his
directorial trademarks pretty much fully developed already, like a
predilection for outbursts of the grotesque, suddenly erupting
ultra-violence, exaggerations reminiscent of comicbooks, moments of utter
insanity and the like. But that said, Shinjuku Triad Society is
most certainly more than just an utter freakshow, it's actually a
well-written gangster movie that within genre boundaries manages to pack
in plenty of surprises, a film that despite all its outrageousness also
has its quiet moments, and it's carried by a very solid cast. Totally
worth a watch!
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