Kakuto

Iseya Yusuke, famous in Japan as photo model and actor (in for instance Distance by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, who was producer of Kakuto), made a self-assured début with a feature that exhibits inventiveness and imagination without falling in the pitfalls of digital film making.The story is about a group of affluent kids who do the things kids do at that age: mess with mobile phones and girls, hang around in bars and on the street, go downtown – to clubs and things – and spend a lot of time consuming too much drink and drugs. The charismatic leader of the group (played by Iseya) has contact with the Yakuza. His Yakuza boss (a beautiful over-the-top performance by the rising star Terajima Susumu) persuades him to buy a vast quantity of drugs to sell. However, stoned as he is, he loses them at once. This is the start of a hysterical quest for the lost narcotics.Kakuto is playful and controlled, with fresh humour, both visual and verbal. Despite a large number of characters, Iseya tells the story clearly and fluently. And the director does not seem to be far removed from his subject: Japanese kids who do strange things.