It Is No Fun Being Chinese In Japan - Ley Lines

The final film in Takashi Miike's Black Society Trilogy.

Trailer incoming:


Ley Lines is a great movie, but on the heels of Rainy Dog it is somewhat of a step down. Here we have a story of several Chinese immigrants living in Japan. We are shown right away that it is not easy being Chinese in Japan. The main characters just want to get away. Perhaps they will leave Japan and go to Brazil, where they can samba. There is a hold up, though, as the film makes it seem as though it is impossible to get a passport from the government if you are Chinese. So, no one wants you in this country, but you can't leave.

There are two sets of main characters in the beginning, but eventually their stories merge. First we have three young men from a small town. Two are thugs, the other is the younger brother of one of the thugs. He at least seems to have a head on his shoulders, but because of sentimentality he follows his older brother down the wrong path. They decide to leave their small town for the big city. Their hope is that among the bright flashing lights they will find some way to get a leg up so they can finally get out of Japan. The other character is a prostitute. Her life sucks. That is not meant to be a pun. She is constantly being brutalized.

Not long after the boys come to the city they cross paths with the prostitute, and they decide they will each take a turn with her. She leads them to an empty building, and then locks them inside, having taken all their wallets. They eventually meet back up, but all is forgiven, and they do get to take turns with her.

The movie had an interesting style. It had the feel of some French films, particularly evoking the 400 Blows in my mind. The film was gritty, the setting dilapidated and dirty, but the camerawork had polish.

The characters follow their path to leave Japan down darker and darker roads. Saying more would be giving away too much. Instead I will just give it a rating and let you watch it. 4 **** stars.

I like to include one point of interest that I took away from each movie if I can. In this one it was the concept of a drug called Toluene. It plays a role in the film, and I had never heard of it. I'm not an aficionado when it comes to illicit substances, but I think we have enough rahab and intervention shows in America that I am fairly well versed. Maybe you haven't heard of it either. In that case I will save you the need to google it. It is a real substance. It is used primarily for stripping paint, but can be huffed, though doing so leads to severe neurological problems.



On a related note you may notice in the film that the aforementioned drug is sold in these strange little brown glass bottles. Those are energy drink bottles. I'm not sure if all energy drinks in Japan are sold in those bottles, but it is a common theme in movies (similar to the Love Love condom box I mentioned in another review) that energy drinks come in bottles like this.


I can't stop laughing when Arnold says, "Yosh よし!"