A grim and gritty look at the rotten underbelly of Tokyo kerb-life, this erratically stylised film thrusts the plight of one man into the face of the onlooker as his once stable and seemingly perfect existence is shattered by the uncontrollable events that surround the death of his long term girlfriend. Tsukamoto’s mixture of frantic and sublime direction captures the essence of a confused and frustrated man as he treads a dangerous razors edge between sanity in an attempt to confront his demons in an effort to make some sense of his loss. Goda (Shinya Tsukamoto) a professional advertising executive, whose life is a progressive climb up the career ladder, comes home one day to find his girlfriend of ten years has shot herself through the head in their apartment. Having been so obsessed with his metropolitan life style, he feels raked by the guilt this unexpected event has caused him and, in a desperate search for an answer, goes about trying to find a gun that matches the same model his departed girlfriend used to end her life. Whilst his temperament is at odds with the violence of cold steel, he is still driven to seek out the weapon and eventually finds a fine specimen. Now, ostensibly on a downward spiral into his own moral chaos, he finds himself drawn to a brutal gang of sewer rats who prey on the vulnerable and eek out a living through the fear and violence that follows them every where. Amongst the gang is a young girl called Chisato (Kirina Mano) who's self destructive nature draws Goda like a moth to a flame until a kinship is finally discovered between the unlikely pair.

Shot exclusively in black and white, this movie disguises its real form behind a teasing all action title that would have you think it is more adrenalin than story where, in reality, the reverse is actually true. The action is light and the drama is heavy, but this isn't to say that it's all talk and no walk as the few moments of pandemonium that do occur are handled in an extremely satisfying manner with much of the action drenched in vicious violence. The use of some very disorientating cuts sometimes help to enhance that feeling of panic whilst in the midst of a running gang battle, but the overall pace of the editing can often be erratic even during the slower scenes that require a more softly subtle approach thus disturbing the films harmony.
Where this movie scores highly is in its constant twisting between what the viewer could except as plausible and what would appear to be an almost dream link surrealism. This is demonstrated not only in Goda's emotional confusion but also in the bewildering relationship that he and Chisato share whilst having almost nothing in common, it would seem to be a ridiculous pairing, yet some how it works to the cast and crews credit.

The lack of any real force driving the movie to it's finale could put a few viewers off and, dare I say might even have some reaching for the 'stop' button way before the half way mark, but sticking with it does bring it's rewards including a superbly crafted climax which is thick with tension and a truly captivating visual flair which attempts to make every single shot a work of art.