Reiji Kikukawa, who has a strong sense of justice, graduated from the police academy with the lowest score ever. He becomes a police constable, but is suddenly fired by the Police Chief due to "disciplinary" issues. In actuality, the firing is part of a carefully orchestrated plan to set him up as an undercover cop in the Yakuza.
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Just one of the "hundreds" of Miike Takashi films, Mole Song is based on the manga series Mogura no Uta. Not knowing this before watching the movie, I was quite surprised. Most anime/manga adaptations I've watched lack any creative maturity, either in acting, script or direction.Mole Song tells the tale of an inept policeman who gets fired and is "promoted" to become an undercover mole and infiltrate a yakuza clan. From the opening scene though, this clearly is more than just a generic yakuza action movie. A balanced mix of comedy, action, and even the slightest touch of romance, Miike brings me back to the time of Happiness of the Katakuris but with a bit more flair and adequate pacing that some of his other films seem to lack (though I can't say I've seen more than 10% of them... there's so many!)
...but he stays more sharp and cool than 99% of the Hollywood in their attempt to bring action and color on the screen. This title is like Ichi the Killer but without the ultraviolence part. Nevertheless - with pallete of kinky characters, funny situations and the visual amazingness only Miike is able to provide. For me - one of the best movies of the year and probably the most ridiculous one so far I've liked. For me Takashi Miike is the one of 3 or 5 living geniuses of the cinema and the fact that he can make a existential drama movie like "Shield of Straws" and kaleidoscope title like "Reiji" in one year is truly unbelievable.
I watched this latest Miike movie at Independent Movie Festival of Istanbul ( IF Istanbul 2014). As i mentioned this is typical Miike movie with lots of laughs or surprises. Some scenes have been made very absurd consciously, but i really liked the first part especially. The only minus of Reiji is the length, it is more than 2 hours and the pace of it gets lower minute by minute. If you are a Miike fan like me, give it a try, you probably like it. If you don't know anything about Miike, this movie may be one of the best starters, before entering his darker and more disturbing movies.P.s. Not exactly spoiler; but at the end it will be shown that there will be definitely sequel movie, which i will be glad to see.
