Surprisingly I had a hard time even finding a decent trailer for this movie, so I settled on the absurd, stylish opening for this hip sounding movie. Nothing like Japanese absurdity in the form of off the wall yakuza fighting to accent a weird day. Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl is really a fun ride staring none other than Tadanobu Asano, who is incredible to those that are familiar with his name and work. Frankly, the man should just be doing weird, funky movies since his background filmography is items like Mongol, Electric Dragon, Ichi the Killer, Party 7 and Gojoe, I will watch any movie he is in.
Drawing equally from Quentin Tarantino, Hong Kong action spectaculars, Japanese anime, and the over-the-top fashion sensibility of Tokyo’s Shibuya district, Katsuhito Ishii spins this dizzying propulsive flick about lovers on the run and the weirdest band of gangsters on the planet. Toshiko Momojiri (Shie Koinata) dreams of a life away from the grinding tedium of working in a run-down hotel and away from her perverted, pawing uncle who manages the place. While driving to the post office, she literally runs into Kuro Samehada (played by Japanese indie film icon Tadanobu Asano), a thief who stole a pile of loot from his former gang and is currently fleeing them dressed only in his underpants. He jumps in the driver’s seat, and soon love is born. The gang is lead by a dandy of a boss (Kishibe Ittoku) who obsessively collects energy-drink ads while his son Mitsuru (Shingo Tsurumi) — heir apparent of the gang — sports a snow-white jumpsuit and platinum locks; they are single-minded in their lust for Kuro’s pilfered loot. Meanwhile, Toshiko’s uncle puts a bounty on his niece and a hit out on his new competitor for her attention. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Esthetically, this is such a fun movie to watch. Everything plays out like a long, long music video, but that also is the drawback of the film. My biggest complaint is that the story doesn’t really go a lot of places, although it uses that familiar on the lam ruffians who decide to fight back from their chasers. It is a whole mess of a movie in terms of where the story jumps and all the people who are introduced. Overall, story isn’t what you need to watch this for as the visual style is something to behold in terms of the wacky sensibilities of the movie.
From raucous shootouts, to wildly eccentric villains and the stylish leads of the film, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl oozes all style and little substance in the movie. It suits what happens in the film honestly, from the head honcho boss who collects energy drink ads and a gang that can only be described as more absurd than any low level gang from the movie The Warriors. It’s a jolt of excitement that propels you through the movie and the quirky cast of characters.
This is a movie that is just one of those see it to believe it sort of things and especially if you are big into the Japanese indie scene. They certainly know how to dabble in the absurd and weird a lot of time, often sacrificing a lot of the substance of a movie in place for style that can’t be matched. A lot of the movies that you will see within the little indie genre play out like music videos a lot of the time, I mean just look at Electric Dragon or even Karaoke Terror. Niche themes and genres, but a lot of heart and fun in them.
