‘First Love’ Review: Violent, Funny, Sweet, One of a Kind
Takashi Miike‘s career is an odd one considering he’s made something close to 100 movies ranging across all genres and all levels of quality, but one thing that seems consistent is that they are all wildly inventive. First Love is no different, while also being one of his best works, something that is violent, funny, as well as genuinely charming and sweet. It’s something akin to Miike’s take on a Baby Driver-type story, albeit darker, zanier, and funnier.
First Love has an unusually complicated plot, which it rips through at a torrid 140 minutes while managing to cram in plenty of action sequences, some nice surrealist touches, and even some animation. The story follows a young boxing prospect named Leo who, after passing out in the ring, discovers he has an inoperable brain tumor. Parallel to this are the yakuza, who are at war with the Chinese triads in Tokyo, and one of their members is planning to rip them off of a bunch of drugs with the help of a crooked cop while framing one of the drug runners, his girlfriend, and a troubled young woman they keep as a prostitute named Yuri for the whole thing. The scheming yakuza member’s plan goes horribly wrong when the boxer beats up the crooked cop in order to rescue the prostitute girl in a case of mistaken identity. The boxer and the girl then go on a nightlong adventure, trying to survive as the triads, the yakuza, and every other criminal in town go to war with each other over the drugs, the girl, and plenty of twists and betrayals.
The movie has a huge cast of colorful characters, the highlights being Gondo, the suave yakuza boss who carries himself like a samurai, and Kase, the scheming self-interested yakuza who can’t help but kill of all his enemies through sheer dumb luck, all the while lowering himself to deeper and deeper depths of depravity. Meanwhile, the budding romance between the Leo and Yuri is sweet and keeps the audience rooting for them the whole time. Despite being under such grim circumstances, their romance isn’t salacious at all, and instead is almost like something out of a Hayao Miyazaki movie, where through their affection for one another, they inspire each other to live.
The technical aspects of the movie are efficient, but not especially showy. The film contains plenty of brutal violence, but surprisingly looks away from a lot of the worst of it, likely to preserve the otherwise light and slightly farcical tone. In spite of all the cruelty and murder, the movie generally has a darkly comedic vibe to it. There are also some pretty good action scenes toward the back half, complete with a hyper violent shootout/sword fight in a hardware store.
First Love is one of those rare movies that has it all: action, humor, laughs, horror, animation, and a hilariously creepy yet touching sequence featuring dancing hallucinations aboard the subway, and manages to pull it all off without a hitch. It’s a must watch for just about anyone.
