The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji

An overcoat decorated with butterflies. False teeth made of diamonds. A leopard print suit combined with a ditto shirt. Miike Takashi is never reluctant to resort to visual hyperbole, but even by his standards, the characters in The Mole Song are very extravagantly dressed. Everything about the film breathes the style and mood of the manga series on which it is based: bright colours, narrative tempo in top gear, shameless overacting and over-the-top plot twists.
Reiji Kikukawa is sacked as a policeman and – after several bizarre tests, including a motorway trip tied naked to the bonnet – he is dropped as an undercover cop in the most dangerous yakuza clan in the country. This veiled suicide mission is accompanied by cartoonesque violence and coarse humour.
The Mole Song is like a shot of pure adrenaline. The film rages on for two hours without a break. The final cliffhanger makes one hope for a sequel. In view of Miike’s high production rate, we won’t have to wait long.