Why watch Tokyo Police, a beautifully staged drama set in the world of the yakuza

On April 7, HBO Max released a series based on the memoirs of American journalist Jake Adelstein. The pilot episode of "Tokyo PD" was directed by Michael Mann - one of the best directors of crime action films, the author of "Fight" and "Accomplice".

Jake Adelstein himself moved to Japan from Missouri at a young age and worked as a reporter for a long time. He wrote the book Tokyo Vice: American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. True, the series is more inspired by this work, and does not rely on it completely.

Initially, the project was conceived as a full-length film, and Adelstein was to be played by Briton Daniel Radcliffe. But in the end, instead, they decided to shoot the series, and the star of "Harry Potter" in the title role was replaced by the American Ansel Elgort.

Charming visuals and unhurried plot development

A young native of the United States, Jake (Ansel Elgort), not without difficulty becomes the only foreign reporter in the staff of the famous Tokyo newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun. He gets hired by the Crime Squad, but instead of just rewriting police press releases, the guy wants to tell people the truth about organized crime. Although his superiors strongly dislike this.

Then the hero makes friends with detective Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe). He helps Jake investigate various stories related to the yakuza. Only now, because of his activities, the journalist quickly makes a lot of enemies throughout the city.

One of the producers of the series was Destin Daniel Cretton, director of "Shana-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings». At the time of its release, this film pleasantly surprised everyone with its rich visual style, borrowing a lot from classic Asian action films. Here he is also combined with the rare talent of Michael Mann to shoot a truly dark crime noir.

Tokyo Police is incredibly enjoyable to watch. From the very first frames you will be enchanted by the beauty of the city, shown no less poetically than in the famous "Difficulties in translation». Japanese streets entangled with wires, neon bars, cozy courtyards, retro cars and half-empty spaces that look like they came from Edward Hopper paintings - you just can’t help but fall in love with such Tokyo.

Tokyo Police is a very slow and contemplative project. The plot will begin to more or less emerge only by the third series, but just the rich visual does not let you get bored. Even the opening credits do not want to skip at all: this is a separate work of art, reminiscent of Cary Fukunaga's "True Detective" and traditional yakuza tattoos at the same time.

There is violence in the series, but even it is shown extremely aesthetically. And in this regard, "Tokyo Police" is much closer to the classic samurai films than to most action films familiar to the Western audience.

Criticism of xenophobia and censorship in Japan in the 90s

The series balances between crime and industrial drama - a fairly large part of the time is given to Jake's communication with colleagues and journalistic "kitchen". Moreover, from time to time the authors add social drama to this cauldron.

So, the moments that reveal the hardships of working in a large Japanese company are very reminiscent of the painting “Fear and Trembling” (2003). There, the Belgian found herself in captivity of a corporate culture alien to her, where insults to employees are in the order of things.

By the way, "Fear and Trembling" was also based on real events that happened to the Belgian writer Amélie Nothombe. They formed the basis of her novel of the same name, and later the film adaptation, equally well revealing the theme of xenophobia in Japan.

Adelstein faces exactly the same daily discrimination: fellow reporters do not get tired of teasing him just for the fact that he is a foreigner and at the same time a Jew, and the editor-in-chief is annoyed by his very presence in state.

The series criticizes the traditional Japanese way of life not only for shameless xenophobia, but also for censorship. In the first episode, Jake is prevented from using the word "murder" in an article about a man who was stabbed to death on the street.

As the policeman explains to him, “Nobody is killed in Japan.” Therefore, the media, instead of writing as it is, should use euphemisms. By the way, this approach surprisingly resonates with the realities of modern Russia.

Incredible acting and beautiful Japanese language

Approximately half of the dialogue in the series is filmed in Japanese, so it is better to watch Tokyo Police with subtitles to better feel the atmosphere. Ansel Elgort did a great job as an expat, and listening to him speak is a pleasure. As well as admiring the stern face of Ken Watanabe, familiar to viewers from "Letters from Iwo Jima" Clint Eastwood.

Well, the sophisticated image of Rachel Keller does give Tokyo Police a resemblance to the works of David Lynch.

This superbly filmed and impeccably acted series is definitely worth appreciating, despite its sluggish plot. Moreover, the stunning visuals overshadow all the shortcomings of the script.

And after The Police, you will definitely have a desire to revisit Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation or "Tokyo Bride" by Stefan Libersky to continue admiring exotic Japan through the eyes of others directors.

Linda Zhuravleva