Kamikaze Taxi (2004)

Koji Yakusho, Kazuya Takahashi

Corrupt public officials and the mob are in cahoots in this stylish and ultra violent crime picture that reveals complexity under the placid surface of Japanese society. Tatsuo (Kazuya Takahashi) is a... read more  wayward orphan working as an underling in the yakuza. When a perverse Senator tortures Tatsuo's girlfriend, she raises hell and is then killed off by the mob for making trouble. An enraged and grief-stricken Tatsuo convinces some of his colleagues to exact revenge on Domon by organizing the theft of $2 million from the Senator's manse. Only Tatsuo escapes unharmed, but now he's got a bounty on his head and a bunch of thugs close behind. Now on the lamb, he hires a Peruvian-born cabdriver (Koji Yakusho) who, since returning to Japan, has found himself a complete social outcast. During the course of the journey, they forge an alliance in an effort to overcome their enemies.Former journalist Masato Harada (who has appeared as an actor in THE LAST SAMURAI) seems to bring the social commentary for which he is known and directed a script that is full of sharp criticism of Japanese society. He hits on political corruption, hatred of foreigners, abhorrent wartime behavior, and many other subjects that have been hidden and relatively unexplored in cinema.