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 problem is that I watched the UK Region 2 release from Third Window Films, which came with stereo sound, burnt in subtitles and a letterbox transfer. That sort of presentation can put a person off enjoying a film, so after a little research, I now sit here having watched the Region 3 Hong Kong release of Kamikaze Girls, which promises to be a little more satisfying in the technicals.

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.

Picture

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. That's a very pleasant opening sentence, mitigated slightly by the fact that it is NTSC, and when you see the reds trying to burn a hole in your retina, you will be altering the colour balance of your television set. But Kamikaze Girls is a bright, lush and highly visual film, bordering on the garish at the best of times, so a rich profundity of colours is to be expected. It is a single layer disc, but as it's bare bones, you may or may not notice the odd compression artefact, particularly at the start of the film. By and large the image is clear and sharp, and gets the job done. There is smidgen of grain, and it's not the best possible transfer, but it is a significant improvement on the letterbox region 2 disc.

Sound

There's no mitigation with the soundtrack though, as you have here a choice between DTS-ES 6.1 and DD 5.1 EX Japanese. As weak and weedy the stereo on the UK disc sounded, that's all the more oomph to get from the surround tracks here. It really did feel like a different movie, with vibrant and enveloping audio. It's not the greatest sound design ever inflicted on a film, in fact the audio soundstage is pretty straightforward for Kamikaze Girls. What really appeals is the music soundtrack, the Yoko Kanno score that I so looked forward to with this film, and which left me feeling a little underwhelmed on the UK disc. Not here, as the surround audio bring out her music perfectly, and the pop tunes and eclectic mix of classical and world music just zings.

The subtitles here are optional, and you can choose between English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. The English subs are translated well, although there are a couple of typos that you will probably miss. They could be timed a mite better. When a character has a fair bit of dialogue, they will say a lengthy line, and get just a couple of words of English subtitle, then they will finish off with a couple of words, to which we get two sentences of subtitles. Nothing appeared to be missing though.

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.

This Region 3 disc is definitely the way to watch this film. It's my second viewing in just the space of a few months, but I found that I enjoyed this film even more the second time around. It's amazing how much difference a better specced disc will make. The anamorphic transfer makes a fair bit of difference, but not as much as I was hoping for. It's not the best possible transfer, and there are still a couple of flaws with the image, but the added detail and improved image quality can only be appreciated. The real life to this disc is the surround audio. What on the UK was a lifeless and understated soundtrack simply comes alive here, and Yoko Kanno's music makes the film soar. The film actually improves by being watched this way, and if you were left a little cold by the UK release, then you must try this.