``Romeo Is Bleeding'' A legendary, mysterious work in which an aggressive femme fatale turns fantasy from a male perspective upside down.

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2020.04.17Naoto Mori

Mark Isham's sultry jazz score is the lifeblood of the film.

Despite the introduction of such a heroine, the film managed to maintain the tone and manner of a film noir without going overboard and was largely due to the performance of Lena Olin, who was 38 years old at the time.

She starred alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988, directed by Philip Kaufman), based on a Milan Kundera novel, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Enemy (1989, directed by Paul Mazursky), in which she played the mistress of a Holocaust survivor. She continues to work at her own pace, mainly in film and television. Her husband is fellow Swedish director Lasse Hallström, who directed My Life as a Dog (1985) and What's What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993).

Gary Oldman, who played Jack, was 35 years old at the time. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for " Darkest Hour " (2017/Director: Joe Wright) and is now one of Britain's leading actors, but I loved his appearance, which still retained the scent of the street in his early days.

Other films that came close to "Romeo Is Bleeding" include " True Romance " (1993/Director: Tony Scott) and " Léon: The Professional " (1994/Director: Luc Besson). " Nil by Mouth " (1997), a film in which he worked behind the scenes without appearing in any films, is also a masterpiece. In "Romeo Is Bleeding," the SM battle with Lena Olin is a major highlight of the film, and the extremely brutal neck-torture scene with a wire reminds one of Ishibashi Ryo and Shiina Eihi (now Shiina Eihi) in the later " Audition " (1999/Director: Miike Takashi).

And Juliette Lewis, who played the role of the mistress Shelley, an innocent low-class bitch, was 20 years old at the time. In the same year as "Romeo Is Bleeding," she also appeared in Hallström's "What's What's Eating Gilbert Grape" as a refreshing young woman (she also suited up in this film), so it's interesting to compare the two.

Another thing worth mentioning about this film is the music. Mark Isham's jazz score determines the mood of the entire film. Before working on film scores, Isham started his professional career as a trumpeter, so his work in Romeo Is Bleeding really shows his talents. On the Amazon soundtrack sales page, there is an introductory comment that compares it to Elevator to the Gallows (1958/director: Louis Malle) (from the CD Journal database), but he is certainly aware of Miles Davis, who improvised on the trumpet in that film. The sensuality of modern jazz is the lifeline that supports the strength of Romeo Is Bleeding.

The screenplay was written by Hilary Henkin, whose other masterpieces include Wag the Dog (1997/director: Barry Levinson), which she co-wrote with renowned playwright David Mamet. Film noir and femme fatales are often fantasies from a male perspective, but Romeo Is Bleeding critically overturns that and is written from a female perspective, which is very interesting. The choice of small details is also tasteful, and if you have seen the western film Hud (1963/director: Martin Ritt), starring Paul Newman, which is mentioned in passing in the film, you will be able to enjoy the film even more.

Text: Naoto Mori

Film critic, writer. Born in Wakayama in 1971. He is the author of ``Cinema Garage: Children in the Ruins'' (Film Art Publishing), and edited ``Movies of the Zero Years+'' (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), among others. He regularly writes for magazines such as Weekly Bunshun, Asahi Shimbun, TV Bros., Men's Nonno, Kinema Junpo, Eiga Hiho, and Cinema Today.

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"Romeo Is Bleeding"

DVD on sale now: ￥1,419 + tax

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan

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