I am not unfamiliar with the oddity that can be Japanese cinema. On the contrary, I consider myself to be quite versed in its idiosyncrasies and its unparalleled creativity. But that does not in any way mean that I am not routinely shocked and taken aback by the insanity that it can bring. Of all the film making nations in the world, I find the Japanese, for the most part, to be the most radical and the most innovative, seemingly aiming higher than anyone would dare, regardless of it's practicality. It is because of such things that we inevitably get pieces of work that walk a delicate line between utter absurdity and striking poignancy, full of movement and color, layered with metaphor and philosophy. True, some films tend to favor one side of the artistic fence than the other but it is hard to deny the sociological undercurrents that can be hidden in even the most preposterous of outings.
And so we come to Tokyo Gore Police, the newest film from director Yoshihiro Nishimura and it is every bit as comically brutal as you'd expect. It is like Manga come to life, with characters using bazookas to launch themselves up to rooftops, powerfully bad-ass women who you would not want to cross under any circumstance and nightmarish body mutilation that results in grotesque techno-organic weaponry. Indeed, it is a disgusting feast for the eyes that every bit lives up to its title.
However, what initially drew me to the film was not, in fact, the copious bloodshed, but instead the casting of actress Eihi Shiina in the role of Ruka, the vengeance seeking police officer who is our protagonist. Shiina first came to attention of many for her disturbing portrayal of Asami in Takashi Miike's unsettling thriller, Audition in 1999. Since then, Shiine has only appeared in a handful of films but I have tried to see every role she has taken. There is a subdued rage that she brings to her characters that few have the ability to pull off and it is a wonder to see.
Set in a near future, Tokyo Gore Police shows us a police force that has been privatized and acts more or less as a military imposing a sort of martial law. Coinciding with this a deranged scientist develops a method of planting tumors composed of pure rage into people, resulting in a race known as 'Engineers.' When an 'Engineer' is injured, weaponry of unknown composition will sprout forth from it instead of merely causing them to die. The only way to truly kill them is to find and sever the tumor that somewhere festers in their body. Shiine plays Ruka, a troubled young police officer with a knack for killing 'Engineers' who heads a special task force designed for the sole purpose of eliminating the new threat. Bloodshed ensues.
Disgusting as it can be, it is downright surreal in places, taking the hallucinogenic imagery of horror greats like Guillermo del Torro into new and fascinating realms. Creatures that have swords and guns for legs, genetically engineered escorts with snail shells on their back and eyes in their mouths and people being dismembered only to have demonic jaws grow from their severed torsos are but just a taste of what you'll see.
Tokyo Gore Police is ultimately a film of satire and beneath the layers and layers of blood and surrealism, there is a social statement being made, even if it is a tad cliched and worn out. It speaks of totalitarianism and fascism, of the suppression of ideas and that drastic measures may ultimately lead to the destruction of what you are trying to save, themes that we have seen dealt with numerous times before. However, we have rarely seen them dealt with in so odd a way and there are numerous clever homages and references to films such as Robocop and Starship Troopers that are scattered throughout. Besides Shiine, there is not much to say about the acting. For the most part, it is sub-par and over-exaggerated and the lines tend to be somewhat amateurish but in a film like this, do you really care about such things? Of course you don't. The social satire simply needs to be plenty and the gore needs to be bounteous and Yoshihiro Nishimura has done this beautifully.