Movies
Kamikaze Girls: Flamboyant Candyfloss Bōsōzoku Fun
Kamikaze Girls is a madcap, gonzo one-two punch of girl power and adventure chock full of color and character. It is a near-indescribable odyssey about those who choose to be outsiders, the act of chasing what you love, finding out who you are and female friendship. It’s like a bromance road movie, but about two mismatched Japanese young girls. The film mixes themes of coming-of-age, finding friendship, poking fun at crass consumerism, and simply having fun with these wild subcultures in Japan.
It centered around the pop-culture-saturated story of an improbable friendship. Momoko (Kyoko Fukada) is a girl who wishes she had been born in the Rococo period of 18th century France, and wears an adorable array of frilly clothes throughout the movie. On the other end of the spectrum there’s Ichigo (Anna Tsuchiya), a girl striving to be a Wild One via a tough-grrl Yanki way-of-being who shows up one day to buy some brand-name knockoff clothing that Momoko’s father produced. She has a tendency to spit or dole out a headbutt when annoyed by someone.
The two lead actresses have a lot of fun chemistry together. It’s good to see them banter and bicker and slowly become friends. Despite all the weirdness, there’s something surprisingly earnest and human about the way they interact and the way their friendship blossoms. And despite the ways in which this film could easily be insinuated as being gay (it is, actually), the relationship between the two isn’t sexed up at all. Movies about female friendship aren’t always in great supply and such a fun, unconventional story with that at the center is really kind of special. That kind of sweetness is what I loved.
Tetsuya Nakashima’s imaginative palette is utterly wild in Kamikaze Girls. Right from the start, Kamikaze Girls pummels you with vibrant colors, a high-energy poppy feel, and genuinely funny comedy. It is super MANIC. There’s a wacky narration, it’s chock full of cutaway gags, cartoon segments, crazy costuming, and bombastic random absurdities. It all threatens to collapse under the weight of its own weirdness but it just doesn’t. It has great energy, an awesome soundtrack, amazing sets and costume design, some brilliant set pieces and a lush message around embracing your otherness and being yourself. The pace and editing are brisk, and the quirky aesthetic make it a joy to watch. The plot is light but the fun is heavy! Maybe the tone isn’t for everyone, but I found the film’s quirky insanity to be refreshing and charming. This movie keeps laughs coming and isn’t scared to just go nuts.
I can’t deny that the second act drags. Once the characters are established and the actual plot sets in, the manic nature of the story gets toned way down. I also have to concede that the plot is far less interesting than the characters who populate it. I’m not saying it gets boring, but Kamikaze Girls does lose a little momentum in that middle half hour. Fortunately the tone and characters are established in such a way that it’s easy to stay invested, even when things start kind of dying down.
Kamikaze Girls is legitimately sweet and super cute in a surprisingly innocent and wholesome way. I can see how some would find this a bit “much” but I have basically no resistance to the very particular wavelength that Nakashima is operating on here. It’s bizarre and quirky and totally not perfect, but it makes up for its shortcomings with its oddball sense of humor, absurdism and plucky energy. This is a journey of being comfortable with yourself and creating bonds that will last a lifetime. This isn’t life changing, but it’s endlessly, endearingly strange, aggressively cute and sweet in a way that I really dig. This certainly isn’t for everyone, but it was definitely for me. It’s not a stellar movie by any stretch. It’s pretty uneven and unfocused, but I had a stellar time and I’d definitely recommend it.
