Anyday is a good day to be a Takashi Miike fan! So much so that his latest, First Love, landed the Directors’ Fortnight line-up at Cannes from HanWay Films and is now unveiling a first look teaser to kick things in motion. Rounding out the cast is an octet comprised of actors Masataka Kubota (Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul: S), and actress Sakurako Konishi, with Nao Omori (Ichi The Killer), Shota Sometani (Legend Of The Demon Cat), actress and singer Becky (Eight Ranger, Eight Ranger 2), and actors Jun Murakami (upcoming Aircraft Carrier Ibuki), Sansei Shiomi (Beyond Outrage, Outrage Coda) and Seiyo Uchino (13 Assassins).
Set over one night in Tokyo, we follow Leo (Kubota), a young boxer down on his luck as he meets his ‘first love’ Monica (Konishi), a call girl and an addict but still an innocent.
Little does Leo know, Monica is unwittingly caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme, and the two are pursued through the night by a corrupt cop, a yakuza, his nemesis, and a female assassin sent by the Chinese triads.
All of their fates intertwine in Miike’s spectacular and anarchic style.
First Love marks the fourth collaboration between Miike and Academy Award-winning producer Jeremy Thomas who produces the film via his Recorded Picture Company.
The teaser footage doesn’t invoke much really as it’s just meant to hype things up. At any rate, First Love isn’t due until 2020 anyway so feel free to breathe and pace yourselves until then.
