White Collar Worker Kintaro
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C Films: B-
The
reputation of director Takashi Miike began to shine in the art house circuit,
which was the case when we looked at his Dead
or Alive films a while ago. A focus
on Japanese Mafia-organized gangsters (Yakuza) remains, but gets twisted
here. The title character (originally
known as Sarariiman Kintaro or Salaryman Kintaro in
its original theatrical release, played here by Katsunori Takahashi) goes from
being a biker to businessman in Miike’s 1999 comedy/drama White
Collar Worker Kintaro.
Not as symbolic as some of his other work we have looked
at, the opening of warriors in battle turns into men and their sons competing
against each other in a silly race where the legs of each father and son team
are tied together, making them hop (or is that limp) to the finish line. This already announces Miike as intending to be less
kinetic than usual. However, the story
of how competing companies are trying to put another construction company out
of business. Kintaro will be back in
the business of getting his hands dirty before long. Not as clichéd as it could have been, it also avoids melodrama, a
plus for Miike.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image here is a bit better than that on the
three DVDs from the Dead or Alive
set. Though Kino On Video had problems
finding the best prints possible, Pathfinder has had a bit more luck in this
case. The cinematography by Hideo
Yamamoto is on the bright side, also emphasizing the largeness of the business
world, corrupt or not. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is not bad and offers Pro Logic surrounds with Japanese
dialogue only and optional subtitles.
Extras include stills, biography text on the DVD and an essay by Tom Mes
that is not. That is not much, but the
film is better than expected, encouraging us to move onto the next Miike films
from Pathfinder.
- Nicholas Sheffo
