Dangan Runner | aka Non-Stop (1996) Review

“Dangan Runner” Theatrical Poster

Director: Sabu
Writer: Sabu (as Hiroyuki Tanaka)
Cast: Tomorowo Taguchi, Diamond Yukai, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Akaji Maro, Ren Osugi, Sabu
Running Time: 88 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

The world of V-Cinema remains a criminally overlooked one when it comes to being released on either Blu-ray or (are we still allowed to say it in 2019?) DVD. A uniquely Japanese phenomenon, V-Cinema refers to the name given to the DTV style of filmmaking, that could be seen filling the shelves of the mostly male dominated VHS rental stores of 1990’s Japan (for a more detailed overview, check out the opening to my review of 1995’s Score). A heady mix of macho violence and female nudity, V-cinema was to the male VHS rental store crowd of the 90’s what Instagram is to modern day millennials – a quick fix that entertains for a brief moment, before happily moving along. Oh, and yes, the irony isn’t lost on me that none of the V-Cinema titles actually made it to the cinema.

With that being said, as fleeting as many of the movies may be by design, many of them were also undeniably entertaining. The previously mentioned Score immediately springs to mind, and the most notoriously popular entries in director Takeshi Miike’s filmography are from his V-Cinema era. Which brings us to the 1996 directorial debut of the man simply known as Sabu, Dangan Runner. 1996 was a particularly good year for V-Cinema, with the likes of Miike Takashi’s Fudoh: The New Generation and Takashi Ishii’s Gonin 2 both hitting the shelves the same year (an expression which, when talking about this particular genre, can be taken literally).

Sabu is the directorial alias of Hiroyuki Tanaka, who started his career in the film industry as an actor, and remains acting to this day (most recently, he can be seen briefly in Martin Scorsese’s Silence). Having focused on acting throughout the early to mid-1990’s, taking on roles in the likes of Miike Takashi’s Shinjuku Triad Society, Tanaka developed the script for Dangan Runner as an opportunity to stretch his acting muscles. The idea was that someone else would direct, and he’d play one of the main roles. A great plan it may have been, except he couldn’t find anyone willing to direct it, and in the end was given the advice that, since he wrote it, he should also direct it as well.

So Sabu the director was born, and the Japanese film industry is a better place for it. The plot of Dangan Runner introduces us to a down on his luck loser, played by Tomorô Taguchi (Tetsuo: The Iron Man), who’s decided the only way out of his miserable life is to rob a bank. Taguchi’s done his preparation – he has a gun and has spent time scoping the bank out – but when it comes to actually pulling off the robbery for real, he forgets to bring a face mask. Running out to the nearest convenience store, the fact that he also doesn’t have any cash means he has to steal one (and to make matters worse, the store only has child size masks left). Quickly proving the theory of everything that can go wrong will go wrong, the clerk notices the attempted theft, causing Taguchi to bolt from the store mask in hand, with the clerk in hot pursuit.

That’s the last we ever hear about the bank robbery, and instead the narrative changes direction completely, to become about a failed bank robber being pursued on foot through the streets of Tokyo by an angry convenience store clerk. The clerk is played by the frontman of Japanese rockers Red Warriors, Diamond Yukai (Lost in Translation), who also provides parts of the soundtrack (along with Daisuke Okamoto). We learn that his character is a failed rock star who’s become a junkie, both in and out of work, making him not the most stable character to end up in possession of Taguchi’s fumbled gun. It’s while the pair are running that Yukai crosses paths with a low-level yakuza who he owes money too. Played by Shinichi Tsutsumi (One Missed Call), who’d become a Sabu regular, seizing the moment he also joins the chase in hot pursuit of the store clerk, and so the trio embark on a relentless chase for the next hour plus.

Essentially, Dangan Runner can be seen as a kind of feature-length yakuza version of Forest Gump’s famous line, “I just felt like running.” The narrative incorporates a number of flashbacks to flesh out our 3 protagonists and provide them with a backstory. Taguchi’s spent most of his life as a push-over who’s been constantly taken advantage of and belittled, Yukai’s failed career and subsequent drug addiction has made him a lousy boyfriend, and Tsutsumi’s hesitation during a previous confrontation with a rival yakuza has him looking for redemption. As serious as their predicaments may sound, Sabu show’s a lightness of touch in the style of his direction, and a flair for understated comedy which really works. Taguchi never lets go of his children’s face mask throughout the whole pursuit, with the handgun wielding Yukai still in his convenience store apron, and a fully suited Tsutsumi brandishing a dagger not far behind.

At a brisk 80 minutes in length, Sabu has stated in interviews that this was the minimum length in Japan for a production to be classified as a movie, and looking back he’d probably have edited more out of it if he had the choice. We tend to be our own worst critics, and personally I feel Dangan Runner works perfectly in its current form. The cost of filming three people running around Tokyo may have been minimal, and lent itself well to the budget of a debut director, however there’s something undeniably kinetic about capturing it on camera that feels reflective of what action cinema should be. There’s a reason why Tom Cruise has at least one scene of him running at full sprint in all of his recent action flicks – it looks good onscreen. While I wouldn’t say Dangan Runner is an ode to running, it’s the one constant throughout.

The editing and music, which work hand-in-hand to constantly change the perspective, timeline, and scenarios, are easily one of the productions biggest strengths, combined with the performances of the key trio. As the movie progresses we gradually begin to see hints that really they’re not all that different from each other. This is highlighted when they pass a lady during their pursuit, then the perspective changes to show how each of them begins to fantasise about her. While scenes like this one are unlikely in more recent times, it’s important to remember that V-Cinema was very much filmed from the viewpoint of the male gaze. The concept of using what characters are imagining (or in some cases hallucinating) is used more than once as the trio run into the night, and acts as an effective plot device to give us an insight to the characters thoughts.

Taking us through narrow alleyways, shopping arcades, pachinko parlours, and construction sites, the landscape of 1990’s Tokyo feels just as much an integral part of Dangan Runner as the characters themselves, giving it a uniquely Japanese aesthetic. It’s worth mentioning that back when it first hit western shores in the late 90’s, a lot of comparisons were made to 1998’s Run Lola Run, the German crime thriller that also incorporated running to drive its narrative. However it was Sabu’s debut that came out a full 2 years before, so if anything it’s likely that the initial assumption back then is actually the other way around.

Knowing the story has to come to a close in some way (unless we want to get really existential), Sabu incorporates a yakuza war sub-plot which Tsutsumi’s earlier faux pas was partly responsible for causing, and acts as a pressure cooker scenario for the trio to run directly into the path of. It’s the part of the plot which feels like it’s had the least attention paid to it, but at least allows for the introduction of a hilarious detective who’s obsessed with guns and yelling lines from Hollywood cop flicks. The face-off between the rival yakuza gangs, cops, and our trio caught in the middle brings proceedings to a fitting close, and ultimately leaves a surprisingly reflective and completely unconventional action flick in its wake.

Dangan Runner represents everything that a V-Cinema flick should be. It’s brisk, contains the required amount of machismo, and is never anything less than entertaining. The fact that it also incorporates a healthy dose of comedy and gives us characters that we care about is a welcome bonus. I mentioned in the opening paragraph how most V-Cinema strived to be a quick fix and nothing more, so perhaps the biggest achievement of Sabu’s debut, was the way I still found myself thinking about it long after it finished. Both a tale of 3 guys chasing each other around Tokyo, and also how it’s only when we’re pushed to our limits that we really gain clarity on what’s important, Dangan Runner is worth chasing down. Pun intended.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10