Three young delinquents strive to do something with their respective lives, hopping on a train to Tokyo. Dan Li from XX: Beautiful Beast plays a hooker who tricks the young naive men getting away with their many. Karma's a bitch though and her pimp beats her up for having too much money. After a run-in with a truly sadistic john, she runs into the threesome yet again, but she's more susceptible to go along with their various plans. This film, the third and last in Takashi Miike's thematically linked 'Black Society trilogy' combines the feel of the first two. And though I find it head and shoulders above "Shinjuku Triad Society", I don't feel that it was quite strong as "Black Rain", due to the story seeming to be all over the place.

My Grade: B-

DVD Extras: An EXTREMELY informative Commentary by Tom Mes (the guy really knows his stuff); 2 interviews with Takashi Miike; Yasushi Shimamura interview; Artwork; Bio/Filmograhies; and a theatrical Trailer

LEY LINES is the third and final part of an unconnected gangster trilogy by Takashi Miike, following on from SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY and RAINY DOG. Once again the focus is on a youthful group of Chinese Triads, this time living in Japan and struggling to make ends meet. The film begins on a light and comic tone as the men mess around and have fun, but then they get involved with a criminal element and things turn deadly. I found this film to be pretty slow and unfocused, if I'm honest, lacking in the kind of basic characterisation that would make the lives of the characters we're watching interesting. Miike can't resist throwing in some perverse and explicit sexual elements but they add nothing to the overall quality of what is a largely lacklustre film.

A trio of Japanese youths of Chinese descent escape their semi-rural upbringing and relocate to Shinjuku, a special ward in Tokyo, where they befriend a troubled Shanghai prostitute and fall foul of a local crime syndicate.

Like many of Miike's works, including the two previous "Black Society Trilogy" entries, the film examines the underbelly of respectable Japanese society and the problems of assimilation faced by non-ethnically Japanese people in Japan. Although it may not be easy for some Western (American) audiences to understand, the diversity between Chinese and Japanese cultures is great, and not always compatible.

What is interesting about this film, as opposed to the first two in the trilogy, is the relatively low level that these criminals are involved in. Rather than top-notch assassins or anything so glamorous, the story involves the dealing of toluene. For those who do not know, toluene is essentially paint thinner. So these "drug dealers" are little more than pushers of chemicals that anyone could inhale (for free) at any time, if they were so desperate for a high.

This film is noted as the "most accomplished" of the trilogy, and indeed it does seem to have the most polish. Maybe not as well-paced as "Rainy Dog" or with the impressive music of "Shinjuku Triad Society". but definitely a film with apparently higher production values. Perhaps not surprisingly, "Ley Lines" was Miike's final film before breaking into international stardom with "Audition" (1999).

As with the other two films of the trilogy, Arrow Video has Tom Mes providing a feature-length audio commentary. It is not as informative as it could be, with Mes often commenting on the plot (which should be self-evident). Those really interested in Mes' thoughts should seek out his book "Agitator", now available in a second edition. This disc does have a few bonus features, as well, that help us get inside the head of prolific filmmaker Miike. We have new interviews with Miike himself, as well as with actor Show Aikawa.