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Bookmark this pageBlues Harp (1998)
Director: Takashi Miike
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The plot has a kinship with Performance: a middle-ranking yakuza hides out from enemies in a small blues club and finds himself falling in love with its (straight) owner, the son of a black American GI and an Okinawan woman. It turns out to be a fatal attraction, because the gangster's deputy gets so jealous that he works up a plan to get the musician killed. Characteristically, Miike tackles the material head-on, using the setting (Yokosuka, the US military base seen in Imamura's Pigs and Battleships) and strong images (Yamamoto also shot Hana-Bi) to orchestrate a 'blues' for a doomed and predominantly one-sided love affair. With great performances from Ikeuchi (the musician) and Tanabe (the yakuza), it's as soulful as they come.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Naoya Narita
Cast: Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Seiichi Tanabe, Saori Sekino, Mickey Curtis full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 106 mins
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