Taking place over one night in Tokyo, Leo, a down-on-his-luck young boxer meets his 'first love', Monica, a call girl and an addict but who is still an innocent. Monica unwittingly gets caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme, and the two are pursued through the night by a corrupt cop, a yakuza, Leo’s nemesis and a female assassin sent by the Chinese Triads.
Miike’s at his frenetic best with this hugely entertaining film. Not unusually genre defying - we might be pushing our definitions of horror a bit - there’s definitely plenty of blood to be had, and even the occasional ghost – sort of. Absolutely more Yakuza Apocalypse than Audition, First Love is arguably one of the most fun films in our line-up.
