Takashi Miike is a director that continually surprises me. Known for breaking rules and pushing people’s buttons, Miike is not afraid to try something different. The Bird People in China has none of the unsettling surrealism and wince-inducing freakishness of his signature cult faves. This time we’re taken on a meditative passage of self-exploration and natural beauty – brave for a filmmaker made famous by his affinity for ugliness and violence. A Japanese businessman travels to a remote part of China to research a jade mine for his employers. This wouldn’t be a Miike film without at least one loose trigger, and filling that role is the yakuza mobster dispatched by a shady loan company to shadow the gem dealer. Hilarity ensues as the quick-tempered tough guy is increasingly frustrated by a backwoods village and landscape that won’t bend to his will. He and his straight-laced companion make a classic odd couple, and of course they learn life lessons from each other along the way. Their journey is a scenic one, all glorious vistas and beautiful mountainscapes. The destination is a charming place with tortoise-powered rafts and a school for teaching children to act out the mythology of ancestral flying men. It’s not long before the city visitors fall in love with the innocent community, and face the dilemma of whether to do their jobs or protect the hidden paradise from the changes of progress. Bird People is slow-building, which allows viewers to bask in the scenery, but may disappoint some audiences by not leading to the fantastical climax it hints at. I’m all for directors trying to expand their palettes, but in this case it feels like Miike is holding back to some degree.

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