Review of Bullet Ballet (1998) by Brett O — 24 Dec 2005

After seeing Shinya Tsukamoto's [color=DarkOrange]"[b]Vital[/b]"[/color] I had to get a-hold of another one of his films. In [color=DarkOrange]"[b]Bullet Ballet[/b]"[/color], a man named Goda (played by Tsukamoto himself) is hit hard with the news of his girlfriend's (of ten years) suicide at the beginning of the film. What follows is a downward spiral of obsession, violence, and depression. At first, Goda becomes entwined with finding a replica of the gun his girlfriend used to shoot herself. This leads Goda into the underground world of gangs and violence in Tokyo's urban landscape.

While watching the film I was struck with many different emotions and by the end I felt I was in a dream - and that's just what this film is like: a violent dream. It is a nihlistic view of misguided youth and a disgruntled older generation that come together, and in the end are still unable to find understanding. [color=DarkOrange][b]9.5/10[/b][/color].