Takashi Miike's Black Society Trilogy - Rainy Dog

While Shinjuku told of the marginal place ethnic Taiwanese hold in Japanese society at large, using the society of the Yakuza as a microcosm, Rainy Dog reverses this theme. Yuuji (Sho Aikawa) is a down-on-his-luck Yakuza in Taiwan, picking up assassination jobs from one of the local triad bosses. There is another loser Yakuza in Taipei who may or may not hold a contract on Yuuji, but plays cat-and-mouse with him throughout the film. Yuuji's life is further complicated by the sudden appearance of a ten year old boy, whose mother claims is Yuuji's son; she's fed up with looking after the boy, and abandons him with his father. The central plot revolves around one particular hit, which sparks off a gangland war, with Yuuji, his son and a prostitute caught in the middle, while they search for a quiet place where the rain occasionally stops.

While still a violent gangster film, Rainy Dog avoids much of the spectacular action and graphic, bone crunching splatter most of us associate with Miike's films. Instead, although firmly situated within the Yakuza genre, Rainy Dog is more like a Japanese film noir, where characterization and mood overshadow action.
RAINY DOG DVD - TAKASHI MIIKE'S BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY