Ley Lines

Takashi Miike's 1999 film is the last of a trilogy about the Japanese underworld. Three young Japanese men of Chinese descent escape their lives in the provinces for the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. To hold on in the city they start selling drugs and become friends with a prostitute from Shanghai, and soon fall foul of a local crime syndicate. The real subject is not crime but belonging: young men born in Japan who are not counted as Japanese and can attach themselves nowhere. Miike shows violence, but the register here is sadder than in his other work; the idea of escape sits at the centre and never looks achievable. The camera work and the use of colour are striking despite the small budget. Who it's for: viewers who like Japanese crime cinema and stories built on immigrant identity. Who it's not for: anyone unprepared for hard violence and a hopeless ending.