The Mole Song – Hong Kong Capriccio
Japan 2016
Written by Kankurô Kudô, based on the manga by Noboru Takahashi
Directed by Takashi Miike
Watched on 24.09.2017

Placing a 128-hour-film (and thus the longest of the bunch) as the final of five movies on this day’s program probably wasn’t the wisest choice, and I was worried that I’d have trouble staying awake. And while I still maintain that the slot was a little unfortunate, the movie turned out to be entertaining enough prove my fears to be unfounded. While overall, “Blade of the Immortal” remains my favorite from the 3-Miike-punch at this year’s /slash filmfestival, and even though I was surprised to find out that this actually was a sequel (to a film that I haven’t seen), I had a pretty good time with “Hong Kong Capriccio”. Granted, once again, the movie definitely was too long for its own good. I also had the feeling that it wouldn’t have hurt to have seen the first film before, since even though they recap it, it seems to be a direct continuation. I also wasn’t that taken with the main character, and wish that they wouldn’t have made him that much of a doofus. And the “twist” was painfully obvious; right from the start, I knew where this was going. However, I liked the craziness of the movie (even though it falls short of the “Hentai Kamen”-films in that regard), it (like pretty much every Miike-movie) was well shot and offered a couple of nice visuals, and some of the characters were quite memorable (which is especially true of the henchwoman). There are also many funny moments and a couple of crazy, original ideas. Overall, “Hong Kong Capriccio” was quite entertaining – however I definitely recommend watching the first one prior to this.
6/10

IMDB