14th New York Asian Film Festival

Jun 26 - Jul 11, 2015

Photo:

New York Premiere

Tokyo Tribe

トウキョウ トライブ

Just when you thought that Sono Sion's work can't get any crazier and more imaginative after 2013's Why Don't You Play in Hell?, here comes Tokyo Tribe – a berserk rap musical action drama about warring gangs in the near-future Tokyo, almost entirely told in rhyme, populated by a gallery of off-beat, super-fueled, and extreme characters, all competing for the control of the dystopian megalopolis, eventually having to unite to fight a bigger evil. Based on the popular manga series Tokyo Tribe 2 by Inoue Santa, the film's large cast includes Sometani Shota as the film's MC, Takeuchi Riki (Miike Takashi's Dead or Alive) as the sleazy Lord Bubba, Suzuki Ryohei (Hentai Kamen: Forbidden Superhero) as a blond-haired testosterone-charged gang leader, Seino Nana (Danger Dolls, Nowhere Girl) as the main heroine, and rapper-actor Dais Young. So let Master Sono transport you to a world full of killer rhymes, B-boy battles, high-kicking girls, pervy silliness, wild action (choreographed by Sakaguchi Tak, working under a pseudonym), and filled with so many baroque visual flourishes that the entire movie feels like Versailles stabbing you in both eyes, as you keep asking for more.

Director: Sono Sion
Cast: Sato Ryuta, Nakagawa Shoko, Takeuchi Riki, Sometani Shota, Kano Mika, Ichikawa Yui, Ishida Takuya, Daito Shunsuke, Seino Nana, Dais Young, Suzuki Ryohei
Languages: Japanese with English subtitles
2014; 116 min.; DCP

SCHEDULE:

Saturday July 4, 10:00pm
Film Society of Lincoln Center

Actor Sometani Shota will attend the screening.

Saturday July 11, 6:45pm
SVA Theatre

Screen International Rising Star Asia Award
Sometani Shota
染谷将太

Japanese actor Sometani Shota is the recipient of 2015 Screen International Rising Star Award. This marks the second year of a partnership with Screen International, with whom the NYAFF honors an emerging talent in the East Asian film world. At age 22, Sometani is already a leading man in both blockbusters and indie gems and has earned critical ac- claim on the international film festival circuit. In 2010, he delivered an impressive performance as a compulsive liar in Seta Natsuki’s A Liar and a Broken Girl, a twisted blend of teen romance and bloodshed. In 2011, he received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Sono Sion’s Himizu, along with his co-star Nikaido Fumi (last year’s recipient of the Screen International Rising Star Award). NYAFF audience already know Sometani from the Pacific War epic Eternal Zero (2013). His recent roles are in Hiroki Ryuichi’s ensemble drama Kabukicho Love Hotel (2014) and Sono’s hip-hop musical Tokyo Tribe (2014), both of which will be screened at this year’s NYAFF.