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I don't know why so many people love flashy but empty Hong Kong action movies when there are much darker, more violent and interesting crime and horror movies over in Japan! Quentin Tarantino's brilliant 'Kill Bill' is inspired by much of this stuff, specifically Kinji Fukasaku's amazing 'Battle Royale' and Takashi Miike's mind-blowing 'Ichi The Killer', so I'm hoping that it signals the beginning of a lot more attention from Western audiences on the seemingly endless invention of the more extreme end of the Japanese film industry. The work of Takashi Ishii ('Evil Dead Trap' - as writer only - 'Gonin', 'Freezer') hasn't received as much attention as the more flamboyant and controversial Miike, but in his own way he's just as exciting. And while watching 'The Black Angel' I couldn't help but wonder if it was a favourite of Tarantino's. Babelicious Riona Hazuki plays Ikko who returns from the US to avenge her parents who were killed in front of her when she was a small girl. Mayo, a mysterious and beautiful assassin called The Black Angel (Reiko Takashima) helped her escape from Japan as a child, so now as an adult she borrows that name. Ikko is intent on killing yakuza boss Nogi, the man responsible for the death of her mother and father, only she doesn't realize that Mayo is now Nogi's (reluctant) mistress and that there meeting again is inevitable. 'The Black Angel' is an extremely cool movie. Ishii is a very inventive and original director who constantly surprises the viewer, moving from an unexpected light hearted dance number to a confronting torture sequence. His characters aren't cliched and predictable and you are always on your toes. I highly recommend this movie and his other yakuza thriller 'Gonin', another film which takes a familiar theme and subverts it in fascinating ways. Forget old hat John Woo and Jackie Chan, try the Takashis, Miike and Ishii!
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