Two teenagers living a dystopian existence in post-tsunami Japan embark on a campaign of violence against evil wrong doers.
Love in this teen flick is less like a red, red rose than a bloody nose.
Over-the-top but blackly funny along the way.
Sion's rambling study of a germ-filled Japanese adolescence is wildly uneven in tone.
Sono retains his go-for-the-throat approach, but the violence here somehow connects with the brutal economic conditions, and he fosters very tender, affecting performances from Shôta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidô as his crushed young lovers.
Although Himizu is impressively righteous with regards to the wrongs inflicted on the youth of Japan, it’s also repetitive and overlong and - despite moments of mania - it sometimes struggles to lift itself from the mire of Sumida’s all-too-infectious despondency. Still there’s plenty to admire.
Sounds like a tough watch, but it’s explosively directed and, at times, touchingly acted, offering small moments of redemption in the form of the relationship that evolves between Somida and the shy girl who loves him unconditionally.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Monday July 2, 2012, until Wednesday July 4, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/