The Bird People in China

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The Bird People in China
The Bird People in China DVD cover
Directed by	Takashi Miike
Produced by	Yasuhiko Furusato Toshiaki Nakazawa
Written by	Novel: Makoto Shiina Screenplay: Masa Nakamura
Starring	Masahiro Motoki Renji Ishibashi Mako
Music by	Kôji Endô
Cinematography	Hideo Yamamoto
Editing by	Yasushi Shimamura
Release date(s)	June 10, 1998
Running time	118 min.
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

The Bird People in China (中国の鳥人 Chûgoku no chôjin) is a Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike. The film is considerably more mellow in tone than some of the director's other works. The story tells of a Japanese businessman who is sent to assess some gems in a remote Chinese village and a yakuza, who is accompanying him to make sure his organization gets its proper share. The scenery of China is something not usually explored in Japanese Film and this was a massive change of pace for Miike.

The film explores themes of Ecology and Third world vs. First world, it depicts the 'East' as a legendary place having a kind of mystical knowledge not shared by the West (including Japan), but twists its message by inserting the figure of the Grandfather who is an ex British pilot. Near the end, the Yakuza soldier decides to kill all foriegners in order to keep the village away from civilazation, but is reminded that in order to get to the village he had to use trains and airplanes. All in all the movie's message is a mixed one, technology is a good thing and a bad thing, tradition is a good thing and a bad thing. Human suffering exists in both, but also human happiness. It is a complex message worthy of Miike, and the film shares the same humanistic message and feel which can be found in most of his output.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Masahiro Notoki	Wada (The Businessman)
Renji Ishibashi	Ujiie (The Yakuza)
Mako	Shen (Their Guide)
Li Li Wang	Yan, Si-chang
Michiko Kase
Yuichi Minato
Tomohiko Okuda
Manzô Shinra