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City of Lost Souls (Widescreen) [Import]

Teah (Actor), Michelle Reis (Actor), Takashi Miike (Director) | Rated: R (Restricted) | Format: DVD
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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A stylized and violent thriller, prolific director Takashi Miike's City of Lost Souls (2000) is set in the ganglands of Tokyo and pays homage to Sergio Leone, Quentin Tarantino, and, in a weird, animated cockfighting sequence, The Matrix. Mario (Teah) is the Japanese-Brazilian gunslinger fresh out of jail who, in a hilariously audacious action sequence, hijacks a helicopter to save his Chinese girlfriend Kei (Michelle Reis) from deportation. He must then secure 18 million yen to secure fake passports for both of them to make a new life for themselves in Australia. In a misconceived operation, Mario arrives at the lair of the intriguing Ko, Kei's ex-boyfriend--a self-assured, effeminate young exchange student--who is somehow head of a vicious gang of Triads. He's at the point of buying a consignment of cocaine from decadent, cold-blooded Yakuza gangster Fushimi when Mario's arrival triggers a shootout, with Mario escaping with the wrong suitcase. Now, in time-honored True Romance fashion, Mario and Kei are on the run from the mob.

Although visually tricky with some strong set pieces, The City of Lost Souls is rather hazy when it comes to story and characterization. We get little sense of the runaway couple as people. A young blind girl is introduced into the tale and there are romantic moments between Mario and Kei, but these feel like sugary palliatives to the bloodshed rather than touching moments. Better perhaps to check out Miike's Audition, a brilliantly gruesome satire on male Japanese attitudes toward womanhood. This is a flashier, faster, but less artistically satisfying affair. --David Stubbs

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun film Jun 25 2004
By Paul Kath
Format:DVD
To me this would be the most overlooked Takashi Miike film. Or to say that's it's more overlooked of his region-1 DVD releases.

This film is nothing like i've ever seen done. It takes multiple languages/cultures and clashes them in a funny, violent and all around fun film. The characters are kinda cartoonish but they all have a dark edge to them. The lead man Mario (played by japanese-brazilian porno star Teah) barely speaks thoughout the film but he has some sorta superhuman edge to him. The story here is that Mario just got outta jail and his woman Kei is risking deportation so after crashing the deportation bus and killing a few people he gets Kei, not before they envelop a plan to rip off some coke from a yakuza/triad/russian mob connection. Yeah it's confusing but easy to follow. The soundtrack is awesome, with some punkish tunes to fit the mood and more mellow songs to fit that mood. It all works well. There is violence, and lots of it, a few quick but awesome shootouts and some bloodier goings on but not as brutal as other Miike films (DOA for one). The acting is good, but like I said it's a bit cartoonish and over-the-top at times. The ending is well.... A letdown in terms of quality. But this is still a great film, with lotsa style (a CG chicken cockfight for one term), humor (a midget, slapstick humor) and just plain fun.

Recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars "People in this world, we have no place to go..." Mar 15 2004
By Henry Platte
Format:DVD
At the risk of sounding very pretentious, I think that some of the negative reviews miss the point of the film. First of all, I agree that the action sequences are excellent, but there is another dimension here. This is not a conventional action movie; it is about desperate, lonely people looking for a sense of place. They behave so recklessly not because of courage but out of desperation. Even Fushimi, one of the only main characters who is not an expatriate, is tortured by a sense of Japan's waning nationalism. Overall, I think it's an outstanding movie: stylish, smart and not entirely without depth. And the 'play ping-pong?' scene surely deserves a place in the modern cinema pantheon along with the laser scene in 'Goldfinger.'
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2.0 out of 5 stars When good directors make bad movies Sep 1 2003
By Benjamin Lefebvre
Format:DVD
I caught this movie on cable after seeing "Audition" (which I liked) in the theatre. That Miike is a gifted director, pipin- full of potential, there can be no doubt. Nice sets, nice camera-work, nice techinical work. But there can also be no doubt that this movie is so full of hookum as to make the ghosts of Japanese screenwriters past weep. As eye candy, the movie does have a certain charm. As anything else, pass. The characters are set pieces with dialogue; the plot has the clairity of pea soup. The only reason I gave it two stars is that any Japanese movie featuring a Brazillian element offers interest, sociologically speaking. I'm curious to see if there will be more entries into the Japanese-Brazillian catagory, given the current state of Japanese immigration.
My advice: Go rent (or buy) "Tears of the Black Tiger." It's Thai, not Japanese, but that (gory) action movie has the heart that this movie lacks.
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Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Not Miike's Best
Don't bother with this piece of trash. At least rent before you buy. I'm a great fan of Director Miike's work, but he makes so many films that some just turn out to be... Read more
Published on April 12 2004 by gibbie
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Miike Classic!
This film was made by Takashi Miike, one of Japan's newest avant-garde directors (also known for using enormous amounts of violence and gore in his films). Read more
Published on Aug 15 2003 by James Lee
4.0 out of 5 stars Tokyo's Melting Pot
Beautiful Kei, crazy Mario, fearless Fushimi. This is one of my all-time favorites. Forget that the movie has no intricate plot, that the characters do not engage in didactic... Read more
Published on Aug 5 2003 by Robert C. Riggs
2.0 out of 5 stars City of Lost Souls
I just picked up this movie today and it took everything that I could muster not to pull it out of the DVD player. Read more
Published on Mar 26 2003 by "jviper22"
4.0 out of 5 stars Hugely entertaining
If you've seen Audition and are looking for another Takashi Miike film to watch, City of Lost Souls may surprise you, since it's completely different from that horrific... Read more
Published on Mar 11 2003 by Garry Messick
4.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Disaster
Anyone familiar with the work of Japanese director Takishi Miike knows that his movies have a distinct tendency to take you off of the fence and force you to make a concrete... Read more
Published on Jan 13 2003 by Brent Figiel
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice juicy crime flick.
I've been exploring the works of Miike since first stumbling upon "Audition" back when it hit the art house theater circuits over a year or so ago, and while that movie... Read more
Published on Jan 13 2003 by Amanda
3.0 out of 5 stars Brutal violence and love...
City of Lost Children is a Japanese contemporary version of Bonnie and Clyde. Kei is about to be deported, but her boyfriend Mario steps in between the law and rescues her in... Read more
Published on Jan 10 2003 by Kim Anehall
2.0 out of 5 stars Violently Expressed Love...
City of Lost Children is a Japanese contemporary version of Bonnie and Clyde. Kei is about to be deported, but her boyfriend Mario steps in between the law and rescues her in... Read more
Published on Jan 9 2003 by Kim Anehall
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and available!
Takashi Miike films are very difficult to get a hold of in the West. In the classic words of the madman: this is a crime. But, more and more of them are becoming available. Read more
Published on Feb 1 2002 by Paul Escu
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