One of the earliest films that proved Miike’s ability for diversity, “Shangri-La” is one of his lesser-known films, since it was never released on DVD in the United States.
Shangri-La is the name given to a narrow piece of land by the sea by the homeless and altruistic people that live there. Their leader is a peculiar individual everyone calls The Mayor, who has an afro and constantly wears sunglasses. Gangs of criminals attack the homeless because they aspire to use their area to dump garbage. However, a passerby saves the homeless by pretending to be a cop, showing them a badge that is actually his postal booklet. He subsequently becomes a resident of Shangri-La, under the nickname “the Deputy”.
The next day, the Mayor and the Deputy prevent Umemoto, an owner of a printing house from committing suicide, due to the bankruptcy of the company that chiefly financed him, which led to his own bankruptcy. The three of them together form a scheme to shake down the corrupt president of the aforementioned company, in order to restore the printing house.
Miike elaborately directs a much more common script than his usual works, which is based on the homonymous manga by Yuji Aoki, who also plays a lawyer in the movie. Probably the best asset of his work is the way he implements humor in the film, in the most unexpected of moments. The scene where a gang of bikers attempt to attack Shangri-La, but everyone seems to ride a scooter, and the one when during a blackmail attempt by the Mayor, he asks the victim if he would like a receipt.
Apart from that, and with the violence being non-existent, Miike directs a kind of an idealist fairy tale, where the poor are kind and good and the rich distinctly evil, in an aspect that seem to criticize harshly the importance people place on money. On a secondary level, he deals with the concept of family, stating that people who are not blood-related can also have strong familial bonds, although the concept of the “regular” family is also presented, through the Umemotos, whose catharsis for their past behaviour towards their children comes through their interaction with the inhabitants of Shangri-La and particularly the Mayor.
Sho Aikawa, (once more) is excellent as the Mayor, in one of the best performances he has ever given the filmmaker, while Yu Tokui as Umemoto and Shiro Sano as “The Deputy” provide great sidekicks for the protagonist, in a combination of comedy and drama.
Hideo Yamamoto’s cinematography implements the idealistic, almost surrealistic premises of the story while focusing on realism (I realize the oxymoron but this is a Miike film), particularly regarding the presentation of Shangri-La. Yasushi Shimamura’s editing implements a mid-tempo, which occasionally becomes faster, that also suits the aesthetics of the film nicely.
“Shangri-La” is a delightful, a definite stand-out in Miike’s vast filmography, and a film that is, actually, addressed to families.
