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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
wild and weird, 8 February 2004
10/10
Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

I am not sure if there's a name for the "current wave" of Japanese films that have surfaced in the US in the past few years, some of which actually date back to the late 90's, but I'm pretty much grabbing anything I can find on the Kino Video label, so far I haven't gone wrong. According to the back of the box, Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl is "in the spirit of Natural Born Killers" but if so then it's channeled by David Lynch. There's a bleached blonde guy in a leather bullet proof suit that crawls around on the ground sniffing like a dog,there's an amateur hit-man that drives around in a little 60's car straight out of Ultra Man, dresses in 50's clothing and has a rather geeky personality, supposedly he's "love struck" but with who is the question? Anyway, this takes the cake for bizarre & eccentric, has some of the characteristic overblown & cartoonish violence, but the focus of this one is more on the strange than the violent. A real hoot and well worth seeing.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Clever, funny and well made movie, 17 March 2002
9/10
Author: Simon Booth from UK

A man called Samehada ("Shark Skin") steals some money from his Yakuza boss, and goes on the run. He crosses paths with a girl called Momojiri ("Peach Hip", or "Peach Ass" if you prefer) who is fleeing from a hotel manager who doesn't treat her well. They decide to throw their fortunes in together and try to escape the Yakuza and an assassin.

The credit sequence introduces you to the cast of the characters you are about to meet, and it was very worrying... so many characters, I thought "it's going to get real confusing", but this is not the case at all. Even though there are a lot of characters, each one is well developed and unique - no problem following who they are and what their relationships are. It's one hell of a set of characters too... "colourful" hardly seems sufficiently descriptive, but they are all brilliantly conceived and portrayed. The main focus of the movie is the interplay between all these characters, with lots of sharp and witty dialogue throughout, and a generally black humour in the situations they get into and the way they get out of them.

The movie is fast moving... very well paced in fact, and beautifully filmed & edited too. There's a little bit of violence, but nothing that's going the slightest concern to anybody who's seen some Kitano or Miike. Almost wholesome in fact

It's difficult to say what makes the movie so good - it's not really any one thing - it's basically just an all-round clever, funny and exceptionally well made movie. Recommended!

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
This Movie Was Freakin Awesome, 24 February 2005
10/10
Author: SonchitoRaspberry from Washington D.C.

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl was one of the best Japanese films that I have seen in a while. The fast pace, quick cuts, and awesome soundtrack made for a great movie. Not to mention the cool characters and decent plot. Tadanobu Asano wasn't as cool in this movie as he was in Ichi the Killer, but then again who could top anything from that movie. At first I didn't know if I would like the movie, being a fan of older samurai films and not much for no-plot action movies, but I'll have to hand it to this film, because even though the plot was a little main stream (man steals Yakuza money and then the gangsters go after him) the cinematography and the fact that the story wasn't really told in chronological order really made this movie stand out from the stereotypical action movie. The way the director would occasionally slow down or speed up the film, or intentionally put in serious jump-cuts, really added to the feel of the movie. I thought that it was a great movie and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Japanese cinema.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
HIP MALE FANTASY, 6 April 2000
9/10
Author: edward_tan from Singapore

Didn't think much while I was watching the show but the images and themes have come back strongly after. Yes, Sharkskin Man is a movie that I have not been able to get out of my mind. Part comedy, part Action-Adventure, part Fashion Parade, this film boasts of an incredibly hip cast with strong (in a subtle way) performances from the 2 leads. A highly entertaining movie that is as bizarre (if you've been watching commercial movies all your life) as it is romantic. Yes, ROMANTIC.

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Amazing Film, Great Actors, Brilliant Director, 5 August 2004
10/10
Author: H. S.-Joffe from New York

Kimie Shingyouji is amazing as is Tadanobu Asano and Shie Kohinata. Brilliant film, great performances. A quirky classic and a precursor to films such as Kill Bill, though the film was surely inspired by Pulp Fiction first.

Sharkskin Man... makes me want to go back to the French New Wave again. It is cinematic ally liberating, fresh yet retro, new and exciting.

Seijun Suzuki is another filmmaker that has accomplished something similar I think, with Pistol Opera, the re-make of his own "Branded to Kill," made 35 years prior.

Kohinata's performance is nothing short of perfect. She is a true star and I love her work. This film should be mandatory viewing.

I give Sharkshin Man and Peachhip Girl the highest rating possible for originality and entertainment value as well as a great ensemble cast and innovative script.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Wanted: one Peach Hip Gal, 4 August 2005
8/10
Author: blazing_l from Queens, NY

I'm on a journey. Next stop: Asanoland.

Seriously. After undergoing an experience called Survival Style 5+, I decided to peruse Tadanobu-san's cinema library. Having seen Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl, I began to recall the story, but enjoyed the minute details, random Japanese cultural references, and a mix of really eccentric characters.

This ain't no gunfest. If you want bodies and shells hitting the floor, catch Hard Boiled. SSM+PHG shows you people in a moment in time what happens when they interact. Asano as Samehada oozes the 'segoy' yakuza with style to match! He rarely panics, acts quickly, and even has time to joke and laugh. Along with the reserved Toshiko, the story revolves mainly around this unlikely duo. You also have yakuza whose topics of interest include rare ad collecting, glue sniffing, and, of course.... finding Samehada.

This film's fun to watch. If you are going in expecting to see all out sawed off shotgun blasts, drive-bys, and opium plants exploding, it's not going to happen. This gangsta movie has a dark, comedic flavor which you may find yourself becoming fond of. Plus, it's a good starter to see the talented Tadanobu at work.

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A Stunningly Visual and Refreshing Movie, 2 June 2008
9/10
Author: lilpinkypops from United States

Plot: Most people are complaining about the Plot of the movie and with legitimate cause. The plot if anything is very linear and doesn't have those twists and turns that movie lovers enjoy. But in any case it still remains a solid storyline that isn't lacking in some huge manner that will leave you thinking the director was retarded. But perhaps the artistic genius that stands out in this movie is HOW the story is told.

As far as cinematography each shot is perfectly balanced with a vivid splash of colours that gives off an end product which is a crisp clean feel to the whole movie.

The brilliance of this movie is the extreme stereotypes of the actors as they (yakuza, knife expert, rock star, punk, rich upper class just to name a few) interact with each other. The pure enjoyment of this movie lays in watching all these total social failures/misfits do what they do best which is rob , kill and destroy. You will be laughing all through the movie as these characters do anything but what you expect from them.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Lovely!!, 19 June 2002
10/10
Author: ETCmodel02 (e@ianchristy.com) from vancouver BC

Like a Japanese answer to Snatch, this film is EXCELLENT! Well crafted, shot, acted and developed, simply a delight of a ride to be on. The development from sequence to sequence is a model of solid storytelling without cheese gimmicks or overt style. The reveals, character turns and incident occasions are masterfully handled. Simply delightful!

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2 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Just PERFECT!!!, 29 April 1999
10/10
Author: Roy Teng from Netherlands

I really don't know what to say about this movie besides that it's a MUST SEE(!!!). I saw it at the international filmfestival in Rotterdam ( The Netherlands) and I thought I was going to kill myself laughing. This movie is based on a Japanese comic and really looks like one too. Katsuhiro ripped off a lot of movies especially David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' but it doesn't matter because it isn't the story that makes this film a delight it's the humor and great visual look this movie has.

To quote the director just before the movie began:"This isn't a Japanese artifact or something, just watch the idiots on the screen."

JUST SEE IT!!!

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6 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A letdown, 5 January 2002
6/10
Author: sharptongue from Sydney, Australia

After reading the other comments, then actually seeing the film, it simply doesn't measure up.

The first 1/3 of the film is quite a blast, with nearly everything the reviews mention - fast editing and sassy dialogue, wacky characters and, for good measure, perhaps cinema history's shortest explicit sex scene (about four seconds).

But after this part, it loses most of its puff and all of its potential originality. A bit like getting on a rollercoaster, having a ripper ride, but the machine slowing to a crawl just before the first big dip, and crawling home slowly.

In conclusion, it does have good stuff, mostly at the beginning. Looks like it wanted to be a weird take on Pulp Fiction but got seriously lost.

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