Having recently enjoyed director Tetsuya Nakashima's "Memories of Matsuko" I was keen to see "Kamikaze Girls" so I was pleased when it was television so soon after the the other film. I was not disappointed as it was a delight from start to finish... even if the opening scene did suggest the ending would not be too happy.
The film opens with Momoko, a girl in a frilly dress, being hit by another vehicle as she rides along on a scooter, as she flies through the air expecting to die she says good bye to her friends and family before we go back in time to find out just how she came to be there. Young Momoko's father is a fairly incompetent member of the Yakuza who makes a living selling fake designer goods until he annoys the wrong people and has to leave town and live in the countryside. In order to make money to pay for the Rococo clothing she loves so much Momoko places an advert in a magazine to sell her father's remaining stock. The advert is answered by Ichigo, a biker girl who is the opposite of everything Momoko is; aggressive, violent and worst of all dressed in clothes from the local supermarket. Ichigo is most impressed with the goods Momoko is selling and is shocked by the low prices being charged. The two girls form an unlikely friendship which leads the two girls to places neither would have expected themselves to be.
Kyôko Fukada and Anna Tsuchiya are fantastic as Momoko and Ichigo bringing the viewer into their unfamiliar world. The director has creating a surreal world where the colours aren't quite natural and where flashbacks occur as psychedelic animations. The only negative comment I can make about this film is that the English subtitles on the version shown on the television weren't the easiest to read.
The film opens with Momoko, a girl in a frilly dress, being hit by another vehicle as she rides along on a scooter, as she flies through the air expecting to die she says good bye to her friends and family before we go back in time to find out just how she came to be there. Young Momoko's father is a fairly incompetent member of the Yakuza who makes a living selling fake designer goods until he annoys the wrong people and has to leave town and live in the countryside. In order to make money to pay for the Rococo clothing she loves so much Momoko places an advert in a magazine to sell her father's remaining stock. The advert is answered by Ichigo, a biker girl who is the opposite of everything Momoko is; aggressive, violent and worst of all dressed in clothes from the local supermarket. Ichigo is most impressed with the goods Momoko is selling and is shocked by the low prices being charged. The two girls form an unlikely friendship which leads the two girls to places neither would have expected themselves to be.
Kyôko Fukada and Anna Tsuchiya are fantastic as Momoko and Ichigo bringing the viewer into their unfamiliar world. The director has creating a surreal world where the colours aren't quite natural and where flashbacks occur as psychedelic animations. The only negative comment I can make about this film is that the English subtitles on the version shown on the television weren't the easiest to read.