Sleepless Town (1998) User Reviews (6)

Very well written and executed

[leekandham · 7/10 · 3 October 2004]

Sleepless Town was a pleasant surprise for me, a well-written and well-executed film, with a gangster storyline containing enough twists to win a dance contest.

Kenichi (Kaneshiro) is a half-Japanese, half-Chinese man of the underworld. You can sell him anything except children's organs. His domain is in Kabukicho, a gangland controlled by various Shanghainese gangs intent on taking overall control. Things are calm, however, his former partner-in-crime, Fu-Chun, is rumoured to have returned to Kabukicho, having fled years earlier after killing the number two to gangland boss, Yuan (Tsang). Yuan wants to get even and attempts to do so by using Kenichi. Meanwhile, Fu-chun's girlfriend, Natsumi Sato (Yamamoto) turns up to sell something to Kenichi.

It's a complicated plot (not least to describe) and it is even more than I've said already. Plot twists are everywhere in this film, and it's been designed to keep you guessing. And what's more it works.

Takeshi Kaneshiro, heartthrob to millions of teenage girls in Asia, is perfect in his role with his trademark stone cold yet innocent manner. Meanwhile, Mirai Yamamoto, is simply brilliant in her role, keeping everyone guessing as to the motives of her character. And Eric Tsang demonstrates why he is everyone's favourite gangland boss (epitomised in the Infernal Affairs trilogy)

This is a fine movie, and whilst the multitude of unpredictable twists really do push the limits of the story. Any more, it would be incoherent.

Overall, it is a very good movie, and is well worth a watch. One to see.

Solid film-making

[ellew24 · 8/10 · 25 June 2007]

I was pleasantly surprised by Fuyajo. Seamy, seedy, with some of the most evocative steady-cam work I have seen in a while. The opening scene, especially, where the camera follows Kaneshiro's character Kenichi through the back-alleys of Kubuchiko, while the soundtrack wails ethereally is quite something. TK gives a solid performance, as usual, while Yamamoto is more-or-less convincing as the morally suspect Natsumi. I did feel, however, that she committed what seems to be a common on-screen faux-pas in Japanese and Taiwanese films particularly, of allowing her character to segue from the believable into the I'm-a-raving-hysterical-banshee-of-a-woman who will (case in point) throw myself out of a moving car if the man I *love* tells me I'm not to be trusted ... kind of stretches the whole verisimilitude thing a bit too far. Other than that, however, and a plot that could have benefited from a tad more exposition, a good film - stunning to look at (snaps to the cinematographer) and engaging to watch.

A deadline, a girl, a brother, ties, money, sex, changing roles.

[whatdoes1know · 10/10 · 6 November 2001]

I forgot how much I liked this movie. Excellent cinematography seldom satisfies without a cohesive plot e.g. Lost Souls. In addition to both, this beauty has a teen-idol popular in Eastern Asia, a gorgeous lead actress (Mirai Yamamoto--you may have seen her spinning a car laying flat on its side in Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?"), a strong supporting cast, twists and more twists, the ever great lyrics of B'Z, captivating story-telling methods, intricate character relationships, and realistic bilingualism. And I cannot emphasize how gorgeous the lead actress is.

Excellent

[xcver · 9/10 · 28 July 2001]

As usual for an asian movie the cinematography is superb, but that's not all. Teenie idol's Takeshi Kaneshiro's acting is subtle and very good. The movie draws a fine picture of the turmoil in underground Tokyo Shinjuku where the Chinese and Korean control the market. Violence is not overexaggerated as asian movies sometimes tend to and the soundtrack is more thematically linked as usual in this kind of movies.

All in all a fine movie worth watching.

Promising crime drama let down by a boring romance

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 22 December 2016]

This Hong Kong/Japan co-production starts out as a traditional gangster thriller, as we meet our youthful hero and find himself caught between opposing sides: a violent criminal gang from Shanghai, who frequently employ torture and murder as their methods, and a lone gunman with psychotic tendencies. The first half hour follows this type of plot with some stylish direction and another solid performance from Takeshi Kaneshiro, who once again delivers a 'quiet but cool' type character with emotions bubbling just under the surface.

Unfortunately, Kaneshiro's character then meets a girl, and the whole film falls flat. For the next hour we're treated to a lifeless romance with one of the most worthless female characters I've seen in a film. The pacing slows down to a snail's crawl while this romance is explored, and the filmmakers do attempt to generate some suspense by keeping their character motivations murky, but it doesn't work very well. Then things pick up in the last half hour, with lots of action and shoot-outs and more twists and turns than in five regular Hollywood movies. I found the last scene to be overlong and devoid of the badly needed emotion it sought to generate, but at least something's going on, unlike in the middle section.

Kaneshiro is a good actor, but his character isn't given a great deal to do here and comes across as a little staid. Yamamoto fails to make her repulsive lead in the least bit likable and suffers because of that, while the excellent Eric Tsang is underused as the mob boss, appearing in all of three short scenes. A lengthy running time and derivative nature of the plot also work against this film, meaning that I didn't think much of it at all.

excellent cinematography.

[kutuhead · 9/10 · 7 May 1999]

A surprisingly good movie. Excellent cinematography and music supplemented by interesting story line made this movie a refreshing watch for an Asian produced film. Takeshi Kaneshiro gave a good outing in this movie but other supporting cast were equally excellent. The mixture of Mandarin/Fukien and Japanese language used gave this film a more realistic portrayal of Tokyo Chinatown. The only letdown are the gunfire scenes. Except for the shotgun, the other pistols looked kind of fake!