BULLET BALLET (1998)
One day I hope to enjoy life with even a small amount of the insane energy found in the 16mm films of Shinya Tsukamoto. Which is a strange thing to consider in a story like this which seems preoccupied not with the meaning of life, but that of death and destruction. To some readers the title may suggest an action film because of the way this phrase is associated with Hong Kong cinema, but the reality is less straightforward. It’s true that there are guns, there are gangs, and there’s an overall punk sensibility to many sequences. But this is also a melancholy drama about obsession, in which characters are frequently found meditating on the right way to die.
