Kamikaze Girls

Introduction

There are many reasons to watch a movie, the story, the actors, the director, it may be a sequel to a film you liked, it could be the action sequences, the special effects, or just on the strength of the trailer. This is the first time that I have been desperate to watch a film on the strength of the composer alone. I'm an anime fanatic of long standing, and the music of Yoko Kanno has long been associated with some of the finest examples of the medium. If you've seen shows like Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Darker Than Black and Escaflowne, then you will appreciate her versatility and talent, producing eclectic soundtracks embracing all aspects of world music. I've long been of the opinion that she could really shine in live action feature films, and when I learned that Kamikaze Girls featured her work, I just had to watch it to find out.


The downside for this reviewer is that it's another release from Third Window Films, coming out the same day as Memories of Matsuko (by the same director Tetsuya Nakashima incidentally), which means that I got a single layer DVD-R to review. It looks like the whole of the retail disc has been put onto the screener, but compression artefacts abound, and it certainly isn't technically comparable to the final retail release.


Can a Lolita ever be a friend with a Yanki? Before I continue, it would help to define the terms. It's all about fashion, about individuality, about rebelling against conformity. Just as each generation develops its anti-establishment rebellions, defined by fashion, music, ethos and so on, so two of the groups that have developed in Japan are the Lolitas and Yankis. Lolitas are girls who have a fascination with the Rococo period of European history, who like things pretty, demure, and all things sweet. The preferred dress is frilly, adorned with lace, bouffant, flowery, and complimented by a parasol. On the other hand, a Yanki typifies the rebellious dropout, uncouth, rough, quick to anger, prone to violence, long coat wearing biker chick, with a code of honour that typifies their sisterhood. You wouldn't exactly imagine the two groups coexisting in peaceful harmony.


But in the small rural town of Shimotsuma, where the majority of the population do their clothes shopping at the local supermarket, there are not a lot of like-minded antiestablishment characters to hang out with. Momoko Ryugasaki is probably the only Lolita in the village, but she isn't bothered by her solitude, especially when she ascribes to a hedonistic, totally self-centred and self-indulgent mindset. Her father is a failed Yakuza, who was run out of the city for selling ridiculous counterfeit clothing, and her mother ran off with her gynaecologist when Momoko was seven. Momoko's life revolves around guilting her father out of enough money to fund her trips to Tokyo and the 'Baby The Stars Shine Bright' boutique to stock up on her favourite clothing. When that money runs dry, she tries selling some of her father's left over stock, although she isn't expecting Yanki Ichigo 'Ichiko' Shirayuri to pull up on her pimped up scooter. A headbutt to the face is the start of an unconventional friendship.

The Disc

Like Memories of Matsuko, Kamikaze Girls gets a 1.85:1 letterbox transfer, but this time fortunately, the burnt in subtitles are zoom friendly. I e-mailed Third Window Films to check, and they confirmed that these were the materials they obtained, and the film will be so presented on the retail disc. You only get DD 2.0 Japanese audio, which is a shame given the music soundtrack.

On the disc, you'll find the theatrical trailer for the film, 12 other trailers for Third Window product, and most substantially a 7-minute featurette with interviews with Kyoko Fukada (Momoko), and Anna Tsuchiya (Ichigo).

Conclusion

Movies about teenage friendship and bonding are two a penny these days, and opposites have been thrown together against adversity ever since the days of The Breakfast Club, yet Kamikaze Girls is like nothing I have ever seen before. Having seen director Tetsuya Nakashima's subsequent award winning Memories of Matsuko, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at the anarchic freewheeling Technicolor tone of Kamikaze Girls. But when the story begins by Momoko narrating the story of her life, from birth, and we see that birth from the baby's perspective, then it becomes clear that Kamikaze Girls is unconventional to say the least.


It's the unconventional friendship that forms between the epitome of all things frilly and sweet, and a tough as nails biker chick that lies at the heart of this film, although the story is told from Momoko's perspective, with the fourth wall collapsing early on in the film. It's tongue in cheek, played for laughs, filled with ridiculous and bizarre characters, yet manages to be heartfelt and heart-warming at the same time. Despite their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, Momoko and Ichigo are utterly engaging and sympathetic characters and it's easy to care about their friendship.


As for the soundtrack that drew me to this film, well a feature film is a different kettle of fish from a twenty minute anime episode, and the music here is just as eclectic and catchy as I would have expected, but it's also relatively understated and never gets in the way of the story or the performances. It's still entices you to look up the soundtrack CD though.


A letterbox transfer and a simple 2.0 stereo track is probably not the ideal way to enjoy this film, although at least it has subtitles that don't vanish when you zoom the image in. Still, it is identical to the earlier Region 1 release from Viz Pictures. As for me, I've put in an order for the Hong Kong Region 3 release, with an anamorphic picture and DTS soundtrack. If you stick to UK Region 2, make sure that the disc is dual layer before putting your money down.