Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha (1999)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Ichiro Ryu (writer)

Release Date:

27 November 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

WARNING: This motion picture contains explicit portrayals of violence; sex; violent sex; sexual violence; clowns and violent scenes of violent excess, which are definitely not suitable for all audiences.

Plot:

A yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop each wage their own war against the Japanese mafia. But they are destined to meet. Their encounter will change the world.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Yakuza | Mafia | Taiwan | Massacre

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Riki Takeuchi	...	Ryuuichi
Shô Aikawa	...	Det. Jojima
Renji Ishibashi	...	Aoki
Hitoshi Ozawa	...	Satake
Shingo Tsurumi	...	Chen
Kaoru Sugita	...	Mrs. Jojima
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dankan	...	Tanaka
Hirotarô Honda
Michisuke Kashiwaya	...	Toji
Mizuho Koga
Ryûshi Mizukami
Ren Ohsugi	...	Yan (as Ren Oosugi)
Tokitoshi Shiota	...	Sakurai
Tomorowo Taguchi
Susumu Terajima	...	Inoue
Hua Rong Weng
Kyôsuke Yabe
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits
Ichiro Ryu		(writer)

Produced by
Toshiki Kimura	....	associate producer: Excellent Film
Mitsuru Kurosawa	....	executive producer: Toei Video
Masashi Minami	....	line producer
Makoto Okada	....	producer
Katsumi Ono	....	producer
Tsutomu Tsuchikawa	....	executive producer: Daiei

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Hideo Yamamoto

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura		(as Taiji Shimamura)

Production Design by
Akira Ishige

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bunmei Katô	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Kazuo Numata	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Hitoshi Takaya	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Daiei Motion Picture Company
• Toei Video Company
• Excellent Film

Distributors

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (1999) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Pretty Pictures (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Rapid Eye Movies (2001) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Tidepoint Pictures (2001) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• MTV Netherlands (2007) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• SBP (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Tidepoint Pictures (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Toei Video Company (????) (Japan) (VHS)
• Tokuma Japan Communications Co. Ltd. (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Toshiba Digital Frontiers (TDF) (????) (Japan) (DVD) (DVD producer)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Wild Side Vidéo (2006) (France) (DVD)
• World Wide Cinema (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• World Wide Cinema (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"D.O.A." - Japan (short title)
"Dead or Alive" - USA
"Dead or Alive" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Dead or Alive" - France (DVD title)
"Dead or alive - Vivo o muerto" - Argentina (DVD title)
"Dead or alive I" - Spain (imdb display title)
"Morrer ou viver" - Brazil
"Zywi lub martwi" - Poland (festival title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality, language and drug use (edited version)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | France:-16 (with warning) | Germany:18 | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (edited version) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Quotes:

Detective Jojima:My father was a small-village cop in a town where nothing ever happened. He just hung around like a scarecrow, until he died. But like they say - even a scarecrow keeps away the sparrows.

Movie Connections:

References The Fugitive (1993)

Not What I Expected-And That's Good!

Hey this wasn't bad at all. I expected shocking violence and gory thrills, based on the film's reputation, but what I got instead was a thinking, feeling, bizarrely creative film. This was my first Takashi Miike film, and my expectations were low, partly because he's so hyped, and partly because I'm over being shocked, and his films have a reputation of being, well, shocking. The character of the cop is especially palpable, and the scenes that take place in his home are more like the quiet moments of a Beat Takeshi film. This dramatic realism is somehow anchored in the otherwise chaotic flow of the rest of the film. There's a real anything-can-happen vibe to this film that keeps you on the edge, yet when you reflect back upon it, there are really only a few heavy action sequences. I thought that was pretty brilliant, though some may feel disappointed by the low count of flipped cars. Hey wanna see an action film? See Formula 51; that had plenty of action, with no damn reason for any of it. And what a forgettable film that was. Dead or Alive is rollicking and at times inexplicable, but never boring. Highly recommended.