- Actors: Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani
- Director: Takashi Miike
- Disc Format: Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Language: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (DTS 5.1)
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: Not RatedNR
- Studio: Well Go Usa
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 11, 2020
- Run Time: 108 minutes
Takashi Miike is the type of director whose
reputation and past films have me automatically bracing myself when I see his
name before the credits of a film. You never know what you may get from Miike,
from the unexpected brutal second half of Audition,
which most definitely affected the entire torture porn movement in horror, to
his batshit crazy yakuza films like Ichi
the Killer and Gozu, and even the
less violent but equally absurd zombie-musical-comedy, The Happiness of the Katakuris. Even though many of Miike’s recent
releases that have found their way overseas have been rather restrained samurai
classics adapted with respect, First Love
strikes the balance between that tone and his familiarly insane earlier films.
Although it may not be as expertly made as some of his dramatic turns, and not
as crazily memorable (not always in a good way) as some of his earlier
exploitation films, First Love finds
a balance that is more than watchable. This may be Miike’s most
enjoyable/crowd-pleasing film in some time.
