Prolific action auteur Takashi Miike (Blade of the Immortal, 13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer, Audition) returns with one of his most fun and action-packed films, marked by high-energy mayhem and breakneck pacing. First Love is a noir-tinged yakuza thriller blending genres as it tells the story of Leo (Masataka Kubota), a promising but aimless young boxer, who discovers something to fight for when he encounters Yuri (Sakurako Konishi), a beautiful young woman on the run, and on impulse rescues her. Yuri, literally haunted by the ghost of her no-good father, has been forced into prostitution for a local gang boss to pay off her father’s debts. The duo fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo. Baby-faced gangster Kase (Shota Sometani) has decided to doublecross his boss and hijack a big drug shipment with the connivance of a corrupt cop. But after killing the courier they lose the drugs, and multiple parties all chase after it, including Julie (Becky), the ferociously bloodthirsty girlfriend of the slain courier, bent on vengeance. (Fully subtitled)

Landmark Presents an Exclusive Filmmaker Letter from director Takashi Miike.