Crows Zero - Japanese Teen Action Thriller movie DVD Takashi Miike 4.5 stars!

Idiosyncratic Japanese auteur Takashi Miike offers another meditation on a violent culture in this teen-themed thriller. Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri) is a teenage troublemaker whose father; Hideo (Goro Kishitani); is a high-ranking member of the yakuza. Genji is a new student at Suzuran Boys' High; a educational facility for juvenile delinquents nicknamed "The School for Crows;" and he's determined to make a name for himself as someone who doesn't back down from a challenge in order to impress both his father and his new classmates. Not long after arriving on campus; Genji comes to blows with Ken Katagiri (Kyosuke Yabe); who thinks at first that the new kid is someone else. Genji beats Ken into submission and wins his grudging respect; but when word gets out about the fight; Genji finds every tough guy in the school is waiting for his turn to show Genji who's boss; with the leader of the school underground empire; Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada); waiting at the end of the line. Kurozu Zero (aka Crows: Episode 0) was the third feature released in 2007 by the prolific Takashi Miike. Starring: Shun Oguri, Ky“suke Yabe, Meisa Kuroki, Takayuki Yamada, Sansei Shiomi, Kenichi Endo, Goro Kishitani. 130 min. English subtitled.