Rageaholic marks the directorial debut of Yoshiki Takahashi. His most known former credit would be as the screenwriter of Sion Sono’s Cold Fish - a grizzly tale of murder between fish breeders which was actually based on a rather famous true crime story. With Rageaholic, Yoshiki trades in the intimate and claustrophobic tale of murderous fish store owners in favour of something a little more ambitious in scope.
A lone hard boiled renegade detective (Yota Kawase) makes the grave mistake of letting his anger get the better of him as he inadvertently kills one of the main perpetrators in a hostage situation. As punishment, Fukama is sent to a medical facility in New York in order to rehabilitate his anger issues. Three years later, upon release, he returns to his small hometown of Fujimi in Japan, where he soon discovers that the town he once knew has changed rather drastically in his absence. As it turns out, a local Community Watch Dog group has taken advantage of Fukama’s mistake and used it to seize control of the neighborhood from the local police force.
With new found power going straight to their head, the Community Watch Dogs, led by a gleefully insane patriarch, seek to eradicate the so-called ‘dregs of society.’ At first, Fukama attempts to fit in and keep the peace as he resumes his role in the force. However, he is clearly perturbed by the overbearing surveillance state that has become Fujimi. In his former life, he sat on the fringes of what is considered legally and morally correct.
His former circle of friends consisted of the local strippers, bar flies and such types. But in this newly reformed Fujimi, Fukama can’t even light a cigarette in his own apartment without being chastised for it. The once thriving nightlife of the local bars is now dead and buried as loud speakers constantly blast overbearing messages of safety in a nauseatingly cheerful voice. The town is decorated with brightly colored yet entirely sinister propaganda posters reminding citizens of the watchful eye always looking over them. The world he once knew has gravely changed as his former circle of friends have been pushed to the outskirts of the city and forced to live in poverty.
At the outset, you could almost regard the film as something of a Japanese Demolition Man. The premise definitely rings familiar as Fukama is your typical grizzled hard-boiled cop pitted in a dystopian environment to which he clearly doesn’t belong. But on further thought, the film is a little bit more than just that. In fact, it’s actually a scathing satire aimed at the overly conformist nature of modern Japanese society.
An all too familiar and sad story in Japanese culture is the scrutiny of
which anyone comes under if they even so much as display unsavory means
publicly. For example, pop stars are treated as almost gods in Japanese
pop culture. But if they put one foot out of line by the smallest of
means, be it through recreational drug use or even just parading around a
sexual liaison, they are almost instantly banished from the public eye
without so much as a chance of redemption. This all feeds back into a
strong sense of civic duty and conformity that is ingrained within
Japanese culture.
Fukama and his friends are very much the outcasts of society. They live in the shadows. They live alternative lifestyles. They are the type of individuals which most in Japan would presumably just like to sweep under the rug and pretend they don't exist. In the eyes of the fascist Community Watch Dogs, they are nothing more than “the maggots of Japan.”
On the other hand, the Community Watch Dogs are the remnants of a very traditional Japan. They’re completely set in the old ways; unwilling to budge, sexist to the core and all too willing to violently punish anyone who steps out of line. Naturally, there is only so much of this that Fukama can take before he breaks and resorts to his old violent ways, leading to a remarkably entertaining and bloody climax.
Yota Kawase does very well here as Fukama. He’s an entirely likable and sympathetic Everyman. He’s far from perfect. At his core, he too is a product of traditional Japan and its savage ways. In some ways, he is no better than the fascists in charge, but unlike them, he still has some sense of right and wrong. Unlike them, he still has a strong sense of humanity at his core.
First time Director Yoshiki Takahashi shows a good sense of pacing. He does well to get to the meat of the bones at a brisk 100 minutes. Something I applaud him for, as most modern filmmakers seem to have lost all meaning of the word “pacing.” The film never drags and does very well to make its point without overstaying its welcome.
For a low budget film, it’s very well shot. It manages to find a good mid-ground between modern neon gloss and 70’s hard boiled grit without feeling overproduced. That being said, the low budget does occasionally rear its head. Especially during the violent climax, as it resorts to a mixture of both practical and CGi effects. Understandably so given the low budget. I can forgive the use of CGi blood, but some of the effects work did leave a little to be desired at times. Thankfully, it’s not all bad as the climax does work more than it doesn’t. There was one gag involving a fractured fist that was truly inspired and had me laughing with relish.
More than not though, Rageaholic serves as a very strong and all around well made satire. At its core, it has a genuine sense of boiling frustration regarding both the economic and social state of modern Japan. Much like Cold Fish before it, the social commentary is very strong and entirely condemning. Thankfully though, it never becomes too didactic with its viewpoint as it remembers to be entertaining first and foremost. All in all, Rageaholic is gleefully violent, darkly comedic and scathingly satirical as a whole.
- Daniel M
-- Rageaholic is currently screening in Japan. There is still no word of an International Release as of this date. --
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