First Love (Miike, 2019)

[HungFist]

Set over one night in Tokyo, the film will follow Leo, a young boxer down on his luck as he meets his ‘first love’ Monica, a call girl and an addict but still an innocent. Little does Leo know, Monica is unwittingly caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme, and the two are pursued through the night by a corrupt cop, a yakuza, his nemesis, and a female assassin sent by the Chinese Triads. According to the production, all their fates intertwine in “spectacular Miike style, at his most and fun and anarchic.”
- https://deadline.com/2019/04/takashi-mi ... 202601162/

Two Cannes reviews, both calling the film the best Miike has done in years:

- https://variety.com/2019/film/markets-f ... 1203225496

- https://theplaylist.net/first-love-taka ... w-20190523

This could be the first new Japanese movie I see in theatre since Re-Born and the Roman Porno reboots... when Toei releases it in fucking 2020!

Half-empty HP:
https://hatsukoi-movie.jp/

[Guro Taku]

Miike style, at his most and fun and anarchic.”

Didn't they say the same thing about YAKUZA APOCALYPSE? I will watch it of course because Miike has earnied that lifetime pass in the late 90ies/early 00s but nothing in those two reviews leads me to expect a real return to form.

A one year deleay between world premiere and Japanese release does seem odd. I guess they really want to lean into festival play first and then use a bunch of festival credentials to advertise it Japan.

[Budzinski]

This looks quite interesting to me. I gotta believe Miike can come close like the movies from back in the day. Maybe not with this one, but sooner or later, he will.

[HungFist]

US teaser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnriSpm4ZBE

I remain hopeful that the film is (a lot) better than that teaser. Not a single interesting shot there.

Seems like the film will hit American theatres long before it opens in Japan.

[Guro Taku]

Seems like the film will hit American theatres long before it opens in Japan.

Well Go Usa will release the film in NY/LA on September 27, with an expansion planned for October 4. Does it even have a release date in Japan other than "2020"?

[HungFist]

Does it even have a release date in Japan other than "2020"?

Not that I know.