''Kamikaze Taxi'' (stylized as ''KAMIKAZE TAXI'' in Japan) is a 1995 Japanese action and crime film by director

Masato Harada is a Japanese film director, film critic, and sometimes an actor; he is best known to foreign audiences as Omura in ''The Last Samurai'' and as Mr Mita in ''Fearless''. In both his acting roles he portrayed the villain who wants Japan to westerni ...

. The film is about Tatsuo ( Kazuya Takahashi), a gangster and pimp who sends out his only prostitute (

Reiko Kataoka is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 45th Blue Ribbon Awards for '' Hush!''. Filmography Film *''A Touch of Fever'' (1993) *''New Love in Tokyo'' (1994) *''Kamikaze Taxi'' (1995) *''Two Punks'' (1996) *'' Gonin 2'' ( ...

) to service a politician. When she returns beaten, Tatsuo's girlfriend complains but is killed by crime boss Animaru (

Mickey Curtis is a Japanese actor, singer and Media Personality. He was born to English-Japanese parents. A pivotal figure in Japanese popular music, Mickey is considered one of the three big Japanese names in rock music, helping to popularize the genre in ...

). Tatsuo seeks revenge as he and his gang vandalize the politician's house and steal money. In retaliation, Tatsuo's bosses put a hit out on them. He flees, riding in the taxi driven by a Peruvian Japanese named Kantake (

Kōji Yakusho , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor. He is well known for his starring roles in ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996), ''Cure'' (1997), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), '' 13 Assassins'' (2010), ''The Third Murder'' (2017), '' The Blood of Wolv ...

). The film was shown at the 1995

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

and actor Mickey Curtis won the

Kinema Junpo Award , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

for best supporting actor in 1996 for his work in the film.

Production

The soundtrack for ''Kamikaze Taxi'' was composed by

Masahiro Kawasaki was a Japanese musician and composer, born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. As a musician, he played keyboards in a number of bands, including Ryudo Uzaki's Ryūdōgumi. As a composer for film, television, and anime, he won awards of excellence at the Ja ...

, who used Peruvian pipes. To deal with the Peruvian-Japanese taxi driver character in the film, director

had Kawasaki listen to tapes of

Peruvian music The Music of Peru is an amalgamation of sounds and styles drawing on Peru's Andean, Spanish, and African roots. Andean influences can perhaps be best heard in wind instruments and the shape of the melodies, while the African influences can be he ...

to come up with a similar sound.

Release

''Kamikaze Taxi'' was released in Japan on April 25, 1995. The film was shown at the 1995

Reception

won the

for best supporting actor in 1996 for his work in the film. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine stated that "the narrative is overly long (160 minutes) and lacks cohesion. But the film has an epic lunacy, a satiric darkness. Its neon-lit nightscapes and vivid brutality dance, shock--and leave the viewer both riveted and repulsed." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' also commented on the films length, noting "Though the film could easily lose a quarter of an hour from a self-indulgent sequence in a group-therapy clinic, there's actually very little slackness during the 170-minute running time."

Cast

as Kantake * Kazuya Takahashi as Tatsuo *

as Tama *

Kenichi Yajima is a Japanese actor. Career Graduating from Meiji Gakuin University, Yajima debuted as an actor in 1981. A frequent player in the films of Masato Harada, Yajima often plays yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organize ...

as Ishida * Takeshi Caesar *

as Animaru *

Taketoshi Naito was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1953 and 2003. He died of lymphoma on 21 August 2012. Selected filmography Film * ''Mahiru no ankoku'' (1956) * ''An Actress'' (1956) - Akio Satomi * '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) - ...

as Domon

Notes

External links

* {{Masato Harada 1995 action thriller films 1995 crime thriller films Japanese action thriller films Yakuza films Films directed by Masato Harada 1990s Japanese films