First Love

Sakurako Konishi and Masataka Kubota in First Love
Takashi Miike's First Love, from 2019, is one of the more satisfying releases from this ridiculously prolific Japanese director. A mashup of a dizzying array of genres, First Love tells the story of a boxer (Masataka Kubota) compelled to protect a much abused call girl (Sakurako Konishi) who has fallen afoul of both the yakuza and a Chinese gang. Muneyuki Kii's script efficiently introduces a cast of over a dozen supporting characters and the players deliver a host of finely etched performances. Miike memorably fills the negative space of the frame with all sorts of bric a brac that give the film a lived in feel. As usual, the director adroitly handles the choreographed splatter, but it is the film's moving portrait of its protagonist donning the mantle of chivalric heroism that makes First Love memorable. Currently streaming on Tubi. 

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