Takashi Miike’s “First Love” is now playing through Oct. 10 at the following Laemmle theaters:
Glendale, 207 N. Maryland Ave., Glendale
Monica Film Center, 1332 2ndSt., Santa Monica
NoHo 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood
Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
When a duplicitous scheme by the low-level yakuza, Kase (Shota Sometani), goes hilariously wrong, a terminally ill boxer, Leo (Masataka Kubota), and a disturbed, drug-addicted call girl, Monica (Sakurako Konishi), find themselves innocently caught in the crosshairs of two warring gangs. Over the course of the increasingly ludicrous night, the two fall passionately in love, while the hail of bullets and blood falls quietly in the background.
The cast also includes Nao Omori, Becky, Jun Murakami, Sansei Shiomi and Seiyo Uchino.
This noir-tinged, violent yakuza film is Miike at his most fun and anarchic.
“Ranks among Miike’s most purely entertaining movies (out of more than 100 now!), gradually building steam until it reaches a sustained pitch of cheerful insanity” — The A.V. Club
“Critics’s Pick! An unusually satisfying romp. ‘First Love’ demonstrates that (Miike’s) energy and inventiveness are still intact.” — The New York Times
Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest.
Not rated. In Japanese with English subtitles. For more information, call (310) 478-3836 or visit www.laemmle.com.