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[Fantasia ’14 Review] Takashi Miike’s ‘Mole Song’ Is a Violent Comedy Riot

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If you’ve ever wanted to see a bald guy with a diamond grill sharpened into fangs relentlessly making cat puns and tearing up the screen with his Yakuza gang, have I got a movie for you.

Prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike’s latest film, Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji, is an aggressive assault on your eyeballs and funny bone. Based on the cult manga by Noboru Takahashi, the film is a bloody smorgasbord of violence, comedy, and genuinely clever plotting. Judging by the reaction to it at its Fantasia Fest screening, Mole Son is a riotous crowd-pleaser.

During the introductory sequence, the audience is thrown face first into a comical underworld of colorful characters. None of it makes much sense at first, but Miike deftly unfurls the plot, connecting bits of information and images previously seen. The story follows Reiji Kikukawa, an inept police officer with a lot of heart. He’s sent undercover to infiltrate Sukiya-kai, Japan’s most deadly Yakuza gang, to stop their drug dealing business from contaminating the whole country.

It’s a fairly standard undercover cop narrative, but once the initial plot is set in motion, what follows is anything but ordinary. Reiji’s naivety and brash attempts to get in deeper with the Sukiya-kai lead to some hilarious and overtly violent set pieces. Rather than metaphorically taking in the power of a ceremonial bowl during an initiation ceremony, Reiji literally eats the bowl. It’s this type of stuff that leads to some truly hysterical moments.

His “mediator” during his initiation trials is Hiura, known as “Crazy Papillon” due to his obsession with butterflies. Though Hiura is a savage member of the Yakuza who considers lack of violence “boring,” he’s also charismatic as hell. He considers humor the most important value in a Yakuza member, so he takes quickly to Reiji’s delirious enthusiasm towards joining the gang. They develop a brotherly relationship that leads to some emotionally honest and heartfelt moments amongst the delirium found in the rest of the film. It’s a chemistry that really works.

Mole Song goes through many of the beats found in other undercover cop films, but with an impossible amount of energy, humor, and violence. After Miike’s recent darker outings like Lesson of Evil and Shield of Straw, it’s nice to see the versatile filmmaker returning to lighter fare. And hot damn does he knock it outta the park. It’s downright impressive how many gags, fights, and inventive storytelling ideas Miike has managed to cohesively twine together here. There are some abrupt tonal shifts later in the film that felt jarring after so much mad fun, but Miike doesn’t keep a straight face for long.

The crowd at last night’s Fantasia Fest screening couldn’t keep one either in the face of this brilliantly bonkers film. Whenever Mole Song hits the States, do not miss it. Unless you hate fun and laughing.

Patrick writes stuff about stuff for Bloody and Collider. His fiction has appeared in ThugLit, Shotgun Honey, Flash Fiction Magazine, and your mother's will. He'll have a ginger ale, thanks.

Indie

“Bite Size Short: Her House of Horrors” Announce Short Grant Program!

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Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.

The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:

“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.

“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.

“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.

“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”

Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.

WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.

To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.

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