Features: DVD
Momoko yearns to live in 18th century Versailles, rather than in her back-country hometown of Shimotsuma. To escape, she loses herself in the dreamy, doll-like fasions of the "Lolita" scene. Her idol is Akinori Isobe, chief designer of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright - her favorite design house - and she frequently travels all the way to Tokyo to shop at the store.One languid summer, to help fund her expensive hobby, Momoko runs a classified ad offering brand-name knock-off clothes for sale. She encounters a buyer named Ichigo, who happens to live in her neighborbood. Super-rebel Ichigo is a "Yanki"-style member of the Ponytails motorbike gang, one of Ibaraki's Wild Speed Tribes, whose teeth-rattling customized bikes are decked out with fiberglass shields and bannered backrests. Somewhat against Momoko's will, she and Ichigo slowly develop a strong friendship as they share their feelings on the odd going-ons around them.
"A silly, freewheeling, candy-colored lollapalooza, but also heartfelt." G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Editor's Note
Based on the hit Japanese novel SHIMOTSUMA STORY by Novala Takemoto, KAMIKAZE GIRLS is a charming, unique, and very funny film. Pop star Kyoko Fukada stars as Momoko, a 17-year-old girl so obsessed with everything rococo that she wears old-fashioned frilly white clothing and carries a parasol. After her mother (Ryoko Shinohara) leaves and her would-be yakuza father (Hiroyuki Miyasako) gets kicked out of the big city for selling the wrong kind of designer knock-offs, Momoko and her dad move to the country, living with Momoko's somewhat offbeat grandmother (Kirin Kiki). Desperate for money, Momoko starts selling the remainder of her father's counterfeit clothing, but her only customer is a tough-talking young biker chick, Ichigo (Anna Tsuchiya), who belongs to an all-girl gang. Against all probability, the two very different teenagers become best friends, even though neither will admit it. And when Ichigo faces serious danger, Momoko must decide whether she can save the day. Writer-director Tetsuya Nakashima infuses the delightful KAMIKAZE GIRLS with fast-paced scenes, goofy flashbacks, playful sets, bright colors, and an endearing and infectious sense of fun in every shot.
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