In Shangri-la cinematic provocateur Takashi Miike comes as close as he probably ever will to making a heart-warming humanist film in the tradition of Ozu Yasujiro and Yamada Yoji. It’s not as though he’s gone soft and squishy; a Miike movie wouldn’t be a Miike movie without graphic scenes of kinky sex and brutal violence - and Shangri-la has a few. The film also examines the realities of life as lived by the millions of Japanese who are just one uncollected bill away from ruin, as well as by the human slime who try to exploit them. But mainly it’s a clever romp, with financially savvy Robin Hoods outwitting malefactors of great wealth, not to mention garden variety hustlers and thieves.
The film begins with the bankruptcy of an Osaka supermarket chain. The news hits the small printer of the supermarket’s flyers hard - if the Y10 million check from the chain bounces, the company is history. The printing company president, the hyper Umemoto (Tokui Yu), begs mercy from the supermarket magnate (Maro Akaji), but the old rogue claims he hasn’t a yen to his name. Umemoto’s lawyer advises bankruptcy court - but he would rather die first.
Then, just as he is about to do himself in, he is rudely interrupted by a gang of punks attacking a nearby homeless camp. Umemoto rushes one of the injured homeless folk to the hospital - and afterwards is warmly welcomed into their camp by Kuwata (Sano Shiro), a writer who is down on his luck, and the camp “mayor” (Aikawa Show), who sports dark glasses and an Afro wig. Overcome by the kindness of these strangers, Umemoto pours out his tale of woe. Moved, Kuwata and the mayor vow to help him save his company.
Watching all this play out is great fun. Based on a popular comic by Aoki Yuji, Takahashi Masakuni’s script moves the story briskly along while carefully explaining the various stratagems. Miike’s direction is uncharacteristically unobtrusive, though he likes to give the audience a jolt of strangeness every now and then to keep it alert - and remind it who is making this most satisfying of caper movies.
Mark Schilling