If you’re a fan of filmmaker Takashi Miike’s work, you’re probably familiar with his very unique style. He’s truly a master of mixing tones, going from some of the most extreme action you’ll see to straight-up silly comedy. And judging from the wild teaser for his latest film, “First Love,” Miike is back at it again with another film that could only be made by the legendary auteur.
As seen in the teaser for “First Love,” which premiered earlier this year as part of the Directors’ Fortnight program at Cannes, Miike’s film focuses on a boxer that gets dragged into a drug-smuggling scheme after falling in love with a call girl. From the look of the teaser, there’s plenty of action and style that will most likely appeal to fans of the filmmaker’s previous work.
We were lucky enough to see the film at this year’s Cannes. In our review, we said that “First Love” isn’t Miike’s best work, and has some issues, but is “a reminder that Takashi Miike has still got it, shagginess and all.”
The film stars Masataka Kubota, Shôta Sometani, and Nao Ohmori. As mentioned, the film is written and directed by Miike, who is one of the most well-known filmmakers to come from Japan. His previous films include “Sukiyaki Western Django,” “Visitor Q,” “Ichi the Killer,” and the action film trilogy “Dead or Alive.”
“First Love” debuts in select theaters on September 27 before expanding on October 4.
Here’s the synopsis:
The film is the prolific auteur, Takashi Miike, at his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.