Brothers Shun (Michisuke Kashiwaya) and Ryuchi (Kazuki Kitamura) discuss finding a better life in Takashi Miike’s LEY LINES
13 FROM TAKASHI MIIKE: LEY LINES (NIHON KURO SHAKAI) (Takashi Miike, 1999)
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St.
Friday, March 18, 1:00, and Sunday, March 20, 6:45
Series runs March 16-20
212-875-5610
www.filmlinc.com
www.subwaycinema.com
Takashi Miike complete his thematic Black Society Trilogy with one of his best crime dramas, 1999’s Ley Lines. Following 1995’s Shinjuku Triad Society: Chinese Mafia War and 1997’s Rainy Dog, the third film focuses on Godardian-like ennui of disenchanted youth as Ryuchi (Kazuki Kitamura), his younger brother, Shun (Michisuke Kashiwaya), and their friend Tan (Tomorowo Taguchi), Japanese children of Chinese immigrants, leave their rural home to find a more exciting life in Shinjuku, and they get their wish pretty quickly, immediately getting hustled by tough-talking prostitute Anita (Dan Li). To make money, they start selling toluene on the street and end up on mob boss Wong’s (Naoto Takanaka) bad side, which is never a good idea. Ley Lines is beautifully shot by Naosuke Imaizumi, with intense colors and dramatic shots of the city. Although the film contains plenty of sex and violence, it is also one of Miike’s deepest, most emotional works, especially when the main characters gather on a rooftop and talk about life. Ley Lines, which also features Miike regulars Ren Osugi and Shô Aikawa, is screening twice at the Film Society of Lincoln Center series “Shinjuku Outlaw: 13 from Takashi Miike,” being held March 16-20 in conjunction with Subway Cinema and also including such Miike films as Fudoh: The New Generation (1996), Agitator (2001), Crows Zero II (2009), and the awesome new 13 Assassins (2010). [Ed. note: Miike was originally scheduled to appear at the Walter Reade Theater to introduce several screenings but has had to cancel because of the catastrophic events occurring in Japan.]