Hatsukoi (2019)
Genre: Crime / Comedy
Duration: 108 minuten
Alternative titles: First Love / 初恋
Country:
Japan / United Kingdom
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Stars: Masataka Kubota and Sakurako Konishi
IMDb score:
6,7 (8.754)
Releasedate: 31 May 2019
Hatsukoi plot
Leo is a young boxer who doesn't have luck on his side. He meets his first lover Monica, a prostitute and addict. However, Leo is unaware that Monica has become involved in drug trafficking and the couple is pursued by various figures, including a dirty cop, a Yakuza and a female murderer.
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Reviews & comments
Onderhond
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- 87623 messages
- 12892 votes
Good.
But that is really not good enough in this case. I could have actually expected it a bit, because although Miike's image has taken a serious hit in the last decade (he is said to have become too well-behaved, too commercial), it is precisely the less adventurous films that still gain some international visibility. So also here.
It is noticeable from the start that the film is a lot more narrative. Visually a bit more subdued, and although there are a few small Miike moments in the first fifteen minutes, they also remain somewhat under the radar. Then you hope that things will go smoothly afterwards, but in fact the film remains at the same level for the entire running time. I would much prefer a Miike who occasionally fluctuates in intensity, especially with peaks upwards.
Reports that it would be a Miike best-off, or as above "hysterically absurdist" seem to me to come from people who don't even know Miike that much, or perhaps old fans who themselves have come of age and would like things to be a bit quieter. But even in the past 10 years, Miike has simply delivered films that are 10 times as crazy as this film.
It's not bad. It's entertaining in itself, with an occasional funny moment, but with Miike it can, no must, be a bit more, it is often more, and that loss is still felt hard. A solid but somewhat unremarkable work in Miike's oeuvre, it's ridiculous that this film has come to the fore.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
Quite a nice film by Miike, if it weren't for the bloody settlement in the warehouse that throws a spanner in the works as far as I'm concerned. This extended scene is clearly intended to please Miike fans, who like to see a lot of violence and gore. Okay, it's a funny scene, but I can't figure out what's so amusing about it. It's probably just me, but a scene like that, which is completely out of line in every respect, really disappoints me. That's mainly why I can't get further than **.
Translated from Dutch · View original
sinterklaas
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- 11821 messages
- 3321 votes
Miike returns to the underworld of Tokyo with full strength.
Compared to decades ago, Miike no longer makes that many films per year. A release in the area is also becoming increasingly rare and I don't think there has been a Dutch release in years.
What are we presented with here? It looks like a typical story in which various types cross paths with each other.
What is remarkable are the Western names used in it. Especially when we talk about Leo and Monica.
Leo is a boxer with a brain tumor who bumps into Monica one night; someone who appears to be his old lover and is on the run from the Yakuza. Soon Leo also becomes the target and a kind of cat and mouse game ensues in which the familiar futuristic and nocturnal Tokyo takes center stage.
But not so fast... because we also get to know the opponents. Some seriously disturbed murderess who has just beaten up an attacker, a group of ditto Yakuza's as we can imagine... but also a one-armed Chinese anti-hero who can still operate a shotgun.
It will be a long night in which Leo and Monica do not have time for a reunion with a tea party and afterwards we can expect a trickle of poof pof poof and spectacular chases (including one with an entire army of patrol cars behind it).
Perhaps not the strongest, but again a very entertaining picture by Miike. In any case, an improvement after Terraformars.
4.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
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