Jeans Blues: No Future

Title: Jeans Blues: No Future
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Crime, Thriller, "Pinky Violence"
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Tsunehiko Watase
Director: Sadao Nakajima
Language: Japanese

Ah, who doesn't love a good ol' “Bonnie and Clyde” story? Two strangers who decide to leave for whatever reason, steal a buttload of cash and collide with one another, quickly deciding to make their getaway together and riding high, shooting things and having generally chaotic blood-filled hi-jinks until the people they screwed over finally bring it all crashing down, letting them burn brightly in a blaze of glory. It's nothing particularly original these days but its flexibility in the finer details and the excuse for gratuitous mayhem are both aspects that can never really become tireless, and after the somewhat disappointing French efforts with 'Baise-Moi,' I had high hopes that my idolisation of Kaji could bring me the story I was searching for.

In truth, this was not what I was expected at all; the fun-filled all out explosion-filled romp complete with excessive and gratuitous violence seems replaced by something altogether more serious, with a greater reliance on the plot and a more realistic outlook on their situation. The initial promise from Hijiriko, the cold hearted 'Pinky Violence' star, who had grown tired and bored of the usual orgies at her club and was in search of something a little more explosive, sadly not quite living up to what it might suggest. The two protagonists aren't some sort of miraculous death machines, leaving only a trail of carnage in their wake, but fully aware that the gangsters Jiro stole 5 million yen from aren't going to stop hunting them until they get it back. However this is hardly to suggest that its slow paced as barely a few minutes go by without some sense of looming tension emerging, a chase scene or some unforeseen circumstance that requires them to haphazardly solve – sometimes causing an even bigger problem – before continuing their escape.

What doesn't work is that bonding element between the two, that inevitability of the story that leads it to such an ending you always hope there could be some other resolution despite knowing it can never be. Meiko Kaji isn't best suited to such a role, for as much as I adore her in many of her roles she naturally comes across as very cold, silent and emotionless and letting her actions display her feelings – which is partly what makes her 'revenge' flicks so damn good – but here there is a romantic requirement; that 'through thick and thin we will survive side by side' sense of kinship that typifies this story, and displaying this sort of emotion is clearly not her greatest strength. Neither is the lead male a “Kang-Ho Song” (Thirst, The Host), his clumsiness not emerging quite as readily as perhaps it could, and instead of making him seem like the lovable accident waiting to happen, just feels like something of a hindrance to his partner in crime, constantly needing to bail him out of his new predicament.

The duo never fail to be interesting to watch, both capable of taking the lead where required and captivating my attention, and the gangsters, too, all seem to have their own unique little quirks separating them from the nameless stereotypes I would have otherwise expected. Couple this with a plot that never lets you in on quite how we're going to get from A to B and the result is undeniably interesting, and whilst perhaps not Kaji's best performance, nor a particular highlight of the era of Pinky Violence it maintains the momentum of the movement as well could be hoped for, taking the time old American tale and twisting it into something Japanese (and in true Japanese style there has to be one thing to make you think. Who the hell is 'Jean?' Or what does Denim have to do with anything?)