Rainy Dog

1997 1h 35m JA

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 90

ActionCrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Show Aikawa
Yuji
Gao Ming-Chun
Ku Feng
Chen Xian-mei
Lily
Jianqin He
Ah Chen
Blackie Ko Sau-Leung
Whorehouse Proprietor
Chang Li-Wei
Chang Shih
Lee
Billy Ching Sau-Yat
Koo Chi-ping

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Takashi Miike
Writers: Seigo Inoue
Languages: Japanese, Mandarin
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, Mandarin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Black Society Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Takashi Miike, shot by Li Yi-xu. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Koji Endo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yasushi Shimamura shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Show Aikawa and Gao Ming-Chun and Chen Xian-mei carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Takashi Miike directs. Li Yi-xu behind the camera. Koji Endo scores. Yasushi Shimamura cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese, Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, Mandarin.
3Part of the "Black Society Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Takashi Miike, shot by Li Yi-xu. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Koji Endo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Yasushi Shimamura shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Show Aikawa and Gao Ming-Chun and Chen Xian-mei carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0142316 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 90 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Li Yi-xu
Original score: Koji Endo
Editing: Yasushi Shimamura
Production design: 鄭鴻展
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
IMDB: Rainy Dog (1997)

Part of

Black Society Collection

After several years spent working almost exclusively in the direct-to-video world of V-cinema in Japan, Takashi Miike announced himself as a world-class filmmaking talent with this trio of thematically-connected, character-centric crime stories about violence, the underworld of Japanese society, families both real and surrogate, and the possibly hopeless task of finding one's place in the world. His first films made specifically for theatrical release, and his first for a major studio, the Black Society Trilogy was the beginning of Miike's mature career as a filmmaker and they remain among the prolific director's finest works.