DVD : Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0738329030025
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Kino International
Manufacturer: Kino International
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Kino International
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 08, 2003
Running Time: 108 minutes
Sales Rank: 64774
Studio: Kino International
Theatrical Release Date: 1998
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Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Samehada is on the run from the Yakuza. He apparently stole 100 million yen from them and has no intention of giving it back willingly. While taking a brief time out to have his way with two women, they catch up with him. He winds up fleeing the scene wearing practically nothing. Meanwhile, there's Toshiko, who works at a hotel with a really creepy boss that has the hots for her. She decides to run away. She doesn't get far though as she sees a half naked man run past her on the road...only to crash into the two men who were chasing him. Toshiko decides to stick with Samehada since she "never wants to go back to that place." In comes Yamada, a gay hitman who's hired by Toshiko's boss to kill "her new man" and bring her back to him so he can have his way with her. Who will walk away with the money and who will be left standing by the time this is all over?
First of all, it is really hard to describe this movie in any way. There's so much going on and so many characters to keep track of that it's hard to decide just where to start. For a foreign film that's labeled as being incredibly violent, it's really not all that bad. There's some blood, but it's pretty tame compared to some of the other films I've seen lately. It has its moments where blood will be splattered on the wall, but you won't be seeing any decapitations or people's guts spilling onto the floor.
One of Shark Skin Man's strengths, that could also be viewed as one of its weaknesses, is its ... Read More
Rating: -
"Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl" is a manga/comic book adaptation that hits the ground running, and well.....just keeps on running. In fact, the hero (S S Man) and the heroine (P H Girl) are literally running from the yakuza and terrible/tedious job w/ perverted, personal life encroaching manager, respectively. This film is filled to the brim with action, hilarious dialogue, and characters straight out of comic book land. Not since "Sin City", has there ever been so many comic book-perfect characters portrayed without spandex and special effects. Just attitude and some of the hippest dialogue to grace the Japanese silver screen. Be that as it may, if you do not appreciate the sometimes anti-climactic nature of Japanese media/culture/humour this may not be your cup-o-tea. There is a definite Japanese pacing to the film, which may turn off some of the red-blooded Americans looking for guns, girls, guts, and nothing else. While this film does definitely deliver with the guns, girls, and guts, it offers so much more in its character development and dialogue. An example of this, is one of the early scenes in the film, which simply contains a small group of yakuza, sitting in a car at night, in an empty parking lot, discussing their early home life and fathers. Just through the dialogue, you can see how these men arrived where they are in life, without ever really seeing it. You can really understand who these men are, even though all you are really seeing is a couple of ... Read More
Rating:  -
"Shark Skin Man And Peach Hip Girl," [wow what a title} by Director Katsuhito Ishii is a below average, to average film at best. I remember watching this film years ago and not particularly thinking it was all that great. Upon my latest viewing, it has not aged very well. Also, I do realize that the film itself is based on the comic series by Minetaro Mochizuki, and therefore is not supposed to be taken too seriously. And as you watch the film, you can see that many of these comic elements are thrown into the films narrative. But I just didn't think they were all that great. And while I have heard the argument that "you just don't get it" I do get it. I have seen several Japanese films where comedy is thrown into the film, both serious and slapstick, and some of these have left me laughing quite hard. This one just doesn't cut it for me. This film reminds me a lot of the Japanese film "Adrenaline Drive." And while "Adrenaline Drive" is a much less complicated film and a lot more tame, I found it a more enjoyable watch. The narratives are alike to some degree. And while the yakuza in that particular film had me laughing, the ones in this film did not.
I really admire the work by actor Tadanobu Asano. I believe that he is a really great actor, and he has made some excellent films. Also, I look forward to his future work, because the man does have some talent. The films narrative opens up with a meek young woman named Toshiko (Sie Kohinata) who while checking her savings ... Read More
Rating:  -
Okay, I admit this has a lot of elements similar to Pulp Fiction (quirky, disturbed hitmen, a non-linear ending where a character is brought back to life, incidental scenes of thugs talking about funny random things, etc.), but a lot of it works (when the gay hitman and the Tadanobu Asano character meet in the bathroom, it's borderline genius comedy). Unfortunately, the pieces don't come together in any satisfying way at the end. Check out the very different but much superior Cha no Aji (The Taste of Tea) for a better outing from this director (also featuring Asano).
Rating: -
The movie opens as a young worker Toshiko (played wonderfully by Shie Kohinata) is being urged by a coworker to follow his example and finally quit her job at the stale, low-rent hotel managed by Toshiko's uncle Sonezaki. When Toshiko finds out that her uncle has "invested" all the money in her savings into the hotel, she decides that this is the breaking point. Samehada (Tadanobu Asano; Ichi The Killer) has stolen some serious cash from his former yakuza bosses and, after being tracked to a woodland cabin, (where he's sequestered himself with some sexy "hired help") he's forced to flee the scene in little more than his tighty-whiteys to save from being caught. Cut to Toshiko fleeing the hotel life. Who should she come across? Yep, Samehada, sprinting into the winding, mountain road and causing Toshiko to collide with the yakuza cruiser giving chase.
SSM&PHG has wit and style to spare. It also sports one of the most unique gang of characters I have ever witnessed. From the quirky, salary-man type yakuza boss who collects rare soft drink tins, to his spoiled, style conscious, ingrate of a son who uses his nose like a dog, is afraid to get wet and is draped in bullet-proof white leather. A 3-some of hapless yakuza wanna-be hangers-on that have zero cred, to a homosexual assassin hired to retrieve Sonezaki's niece. Add in the remaining cast of ill-mannered yakuza associates and how could you go wrong? I'll answer that; you can't.
O.K., I could see ... Read More
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