Crows Zero
2007 · Directed by Takashi Miike
Original language: Japanese
- action
- comedy
- crime
The story
The students of Suzuran High compete for the King of School title. An ex-graduate yakuza is sent to kill the son of a criminal group, but he can't make himself do it as he reminds him of his youth.
What it’s like
Saturated, grimy daylight over a crumbling provincial high school, with Miike's restless camera swinging through corridors, rooftops and wrecked classrooms in fast cuts and sudden whip pans. The palette leans into sweaty browns, sickly yellows and blown-out sky, and the fights are loud, messy and heavily stylized, full of slapstick timing, flying furniture and bloodied faces that get wiped and returned to the fray. The sound is a blunt mix of thudding percussion, punk-flavoured guitar and cheap pop hooks, with sudden cuts to dead silence before the next brawl erupts. Vibe: scrappy, sweaty, absurd, a Saturday-afternoon fever rather than a quiet evening. Pacing is relentless and episodic, with rowdy comic set-pieces stacked on top of each other. Tone swings between cartoonish comedy and genuine melancholy about boys who never got out of their own violent habits, and the central relationship slowly softens from threat into an odd, reluctant kinship. Intensity is high: frequent fist fights, kicks, blood, weapons and smoking, with cruelty played for laughs but still physically harsh; not suitable for anyone wanting something gentle. Made for viewers who enjoy bold, anarchic Japanese genre cinema and youth-gang energy.
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