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For Love's Sake 15 rating

Takashi Miike's awesome riff on Romeo and Juliet, done as a pop musical stuffed with golden oldies from the 60s.

Musical 2012 134 mins

Director: Takashi Miike

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Overview

Takashi Miike does Romeo and Juliet as a 60s pop musical, and it’s as if West Side Story never happened. The storyline actually derives from a much-filmed manga, but Miike gives it the particle-accelerator treatment. The demure, well-born Ai (‘Love’) stumbles upon a street brawl and recognises the scar on one fighter’s forehead: Makoto (‘Sincerity’) is the guy who once saved her from a skiing accident; now a terse, embittered punk. She determines to redeem him by resurrecting his inner goodness. Phase One of her plan is to get her rich parents to pay for him to transfer to the upscale Aobadai High. But Makoto don’t wanna be redeemed...

You can only gasp in disbelief at Miike’s inventiveness: performances, design, choice of golden-oldie hits and fight choreography are all beyond ace. This is the kind of movie that hits you, and it feels like a kiss.

Director
Takashi Miike
Featuring
Satoshi TsumabukiEmi TakeiTakumi SaitohIto Ohno
Genres
MusicalRomance
Certificate
15Contains strong violence and language
Released
2012
Country
Japan
Language
Japanese with English subtitles