Kamikaze Girls

Kamikaze Girls has possibly THE greatest film opening EVER!!! Momoko gets hit by a truck, she's sent flying into the air with a load of cabbage and says farewell to her friends and family. It then comes up with 'The End'. Obviously, that wasn't the end. Momoko then rewinds all the way to 18th century France. The Rococo era. The time where the French where either sewing, or in bed. But Momoko can only dream of living in this era, as she goes on to explain. She was born into a part of Japan where everyone was born in a tracksuit, and dies in a tracksuit (as she puts it) and her father and mother met, kissed, fell pregnant then married. Thus Momoko is born. She becomes obssesed with the lolita fashion and constantly scavanged money off her father to pay for dress upon dress of lolita wonder. She goes into A LOT of detail of her life, how she sews, how she's very indiffernt and how she's an introvert. Surprisingly enough this is not boring!!
For a start her script is amusing and her voice is pretty, so even without the interesting and novel scenes her life story does not bore. But when Momoko's supply of money runs dry she starts to sell some of her fathers old stock and that's when she meets Ichigo. A total yanki. Part of the girl biker gang 'the ponytails'. After buying things off Momoko and finding her grandmothers vintage bike, Ichigo decides that she quite likes it at Momoko's house and proceeds to pester Momoko on a daily basis. The events that follow give a curious definition to friendship. Extremely entertaining and unique. But difficult to explain.
The occasional use of special effects is abominable! Fortuanately, it is just occasional and such a minor part of the film that it can be excused. Especially as the rest of the production is good. The costumes are immaculate! All the lolita dresses are adorable and the yanki outfits are pretty cool too! And I like all the editing and scripting. It's fairly high-class actually.
The biggest point in this film is probably the contrast between Momoko and Ichigo. Momoko does not care about other people as long as she looks cute and her hair and clothes are neat. Ichigo doesn't care about rules but still depends on her gang leader. The fact that these two end up as friends is amazing! They are such unique and interesting characters. Expertly crafted! They have an interesting past and not annoying sob-storys. There isn't many other characters, but it doesn't matter because these two were acted out exceptionally well. Especially Momoko, who, although usually blank and impassive, does flip! And she is so AMAZING when she flips!!
So, while this may be a short film that's 50% back story it had amazing characters! They were ALL so eccentric, I loved even the one's I haven't mentioned! I really enjoyed the short and simple plot. The acting was top-class and the costumes were AMAZING!! I think I shall try to find this to buy, it was THAT good!!

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