Plot: Old boss of the prominent Tenseikai crime syndicate is at death's door. Foreseen a cruel bloodshed to take over the helm, one of the yakuza captains - Kaito, attempting to gain power by absorbing two smaller rival gangs - Yokomizo and Shirane. To accomplish that, he, along with Shirane's leader's assistant - Mizushima, develop a plan where the both gangs loosing their caps will make peace and form an alliance under strong Kaito's and Mizushima's leadership.
The plan seems to be perfect, but young yakuza Kenzaki Kunihiko, is turning things upside down. Kenzaki is the charismatic leader of a gang that makes up one part of the Yokomizo family. Devastated by Kaito's and Mizushima's actions he vows to avenge his boss's death and moves from acting on the decisions of his superiors to making his own, against betrayers.
«‘Agitator’ is a densely layered, multi-faceted portrait of honour amongst thieves, and ranks as one of Miike’s most mature, and most complex, films to date.»
«The leitmotif of Agitator is a pocket kaleidoscope, a device that never reveals the same image twice, and Miike creatively explores that thought via the morally repugnant philosophies of ever-shifting affiliations and political scheming in the yakuza organisation's hierarchy and exclusive membership.»
Film 4source:
http://www.film4.com/reviews/2001/agitator
«Denying the very conventions of the yakuza genre that has inspired some of his best work, Takashi Miike deliberately piles on successive scenes of dialogue-heavy exposition in the hope of making us realize that the yakuza are more businessmen than action-heroes. »
Total Filmsource:
http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/dvd/agitator
«Full of shifting allegiances, shadowy backroom discussions and very little of the snappy editing Miike's best known for, Agitator proves that there's more to this cult filmmaker thannon-stop action.»
Time Out Film Guidesource:
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/77603/agitator.html
«Every character and almost every incident in this sprawling yakuza gang-war saga is generic, and so Miike looks for ways to liven things up - but doesn't find many. »
«Not the best of Takashi Miike's output, Agitator is nevertheless a solid genre piece offering a good deal of cunning manipulation alongside the gangland murders and will please both fans of yakuza pictures and Miike completists.»
«Despite its frantic prologue Agitator is a definite departure from Miike's more violent and sensational work in films such as Ichi the Killer and Dead or Alive. ... While Agitator is none of these things it is still an enjoyable film with a strong performance from Kato and some memorable moments.»
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Takashi Miike's Agitator (Uncut DVD)
