Sakai Hiroki (Kosuke Toyohara) is an ex-boxer who now has the tedious job of pachinko machine nail adjuster. It is quiet work for someone who wants a quiet life. He has befriended the gangster who runs the parlors, Tsumura (Mickey Curtis), but beyond that his life is a very solitary existence devoid of ambition. His life is turned upside down when Tsumara is kidnaped by a rival gang. It seems one of Hiroki's old friends and small time gangster, Mizuguchi, gave Tsumara a package that the gang wants. Hiroki is simply told to get it, not specifically what it is. He endeavors to save his friend, trying to get help from a crooked cop connection, find the now missing Mizuguchi, and all the while dealing with the advances of Tsumara's daughter Rei (Yuna Natsuo).

If it sounds like a straightforward yakuza picture- here comes the boxer to the rescue of the kind yakuza lord- the way Wild Life unfolds is anything but your standard A-to-B narrative. In the DVD extras, director Shinji Aoyama professes his love for Jena Luc Godard. The cinematic playfulness that he engages in with Wild Life definitely reflects that. Scenes freely skip to the past, appear in fragments, change perspective, making the result an intentionally realized jumble.

The films style reflects the absurdity and hecticness of the story. Even the title is a joke. Dialogue shifts go from a brief staccato (like "I'm going to the bathroom" becomes, simply, "The bathroom.") to long, poetic interior monologues. Aoyama's impishness is also evident in how he injects humor into the story. What was probably originally a script for a typical yakuza b-flick has many moments of levity injected into the scenes, like Hiroki breaking into song as the gangsters again muscle him over not finding the package. Aoyama approaches the material with tongue half in cheek and mostly just happy to use all the tools at his disposal to play within a rigid genre.

The DVD: Artsmagic

Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen. The image is a definite letdown. Overall it is a very soft with some muddy color details. Colors are muted and bleed, depending in the scenes. Likewise the contrast level varies, in some sequences nice and deep, in others grayed. Technically it falters with some combing issues. Watchable, but very c-grade; I'll give it a little leeway since I've seen poorer sourced transfers of recent Japanese films. Still, I have to think better elements exist somewhere.

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 Surround. Japanese language with optional English subtitles. A good mix serviceable to the film, which never really has moments that call for too much audio dynamics. Subtitle translation appears fluid and well-interpreted.

Extras: Cast and Crew Bios/Filmographies.— Interview with director Shinji Aoyama (18:04). Aoyama spends much of the time discussing his early influences and movies that sparked his interest in film. When asked about Wild Life's budget, he cannot help but burst out laughing.— Commentary by Midnight Eye contributor Jasper Sharp. Sharp also did the commentary for the EM Embalming disc, which I reviewed. Sharp is a bit dry for my taste and sounds like he's just reading from a prewritten text. Here, he makes a point of not being story or film specific, instead covering the cast and Aoyama, as well as some generalities about Japanese film. One could make a drinking game out of the number of times he brings up points, only so he can say "I'll cover more on it later" which becomes a bit tiresome.

Conclusion: I admire the film more than I like it. This happens, especially when a film feels like an experiment, which I'd venture to say is a pretty fair way describe Wild Life. Here we have a film maker, a good one, dallying around with a gangster film, keeping the rules and reassembling them into a more lighthearted piece with a bold narrative approach. The disc is fair. Worth a rental to give it a looksee and then a purchase if this particular undertaking agrees with you.