Bullet Ballet (2008). Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto.
Bullet Ballet begins with a death with after-effects that reverberate throughout the rest of the film. Tsukamoto, who wrote, directed, and played the lead, has created a film about splits, breaks, and the hidden areas of personality. Goda’s (Tsukamoto) fiance commits suicide with a Chief’s Special revolver, the possession of which is a feat that Goda spends much of the middle act trying to recreate.
The film is filled with hollow spaces. Narratively speaking much of the backstory is omitted, glossed over, or unexplained. It is obvious that much has gone on between the punks, masochistic Chisato, and Goda, such that narrative emptiness is braced by thematic emptiness. There is also the space left by the bullet in the bathroom window, echoing void left by Goda’s fiance, and most of all the vacant imperatives by which the characters live their lives.
Beautifully shot and sonically well-developed, most especially in the first 30 minutes, I would highly recommend that this film make it onto a ‘to see’ list. Just don’t expect a Miike-style bloodbath. The film is not devoid of violence, but it just isn’t the focus. As the film implies there is a dance, an old kind of dance between a man who wants to die and the bullet that he imagines will grant him succor.
