Revenge served raw

By Walter J. Lyng, August 22nd, 2012

Sushi Girl is an ambitious Tarantino-esque gangster extravaganza from writers Kern Saxton and Destin Pfaff featuring an ensemble cast that includes Todd, Hamil and James Duval as well as Sonny Chiba, Danny Trejo, Jeff Fahey and Michael Bihen in supporting roles.
The film takes place over a single evening in which the members of a heist crew reunite so that they may brutally interrogate their former partner as to the whereabouts of diamonds that they feel rightfully belong to them. The centerpiece of the reunion is an expertly prepared arrangement of sushi, served Yakuza style, on the body of a naked woman.
While it might come as no surprise to see the always-imposing Todd as the group's leader, Hamill's turn as Crow, a sadistic, sexually ambiguous thug, is strangely mesmerising. While Hamill definitely knows his way around villain territory, having voiced the animated version of Batman foe The Joker for the better part of two decades, his live action turn as a character so repugnant might startle some.
“The beauty of the script is showing how a character like the one I was playing could enjoy his work; his love of torture, the almost sexual pleasure he gets from it,” he says. “It's creepy in the extreme.”
Ever modest, Hamill credits the quality of his performance as well as the film in general to the collaborative nature of the production.  “What I loved about the well-rounded characters is that no one overlapped or was in conflict with one another,” he says. “As a whole, every colour in the spectrum was there. Also, there was this perverse sense of humour about Crow. It's a remarkably funny film considering how dark the subject matter is.
“There's a lot of poignant factors which affects each of the gang members. It's not like the Godfather pictures where you almost want to join the Mafia. This film did look as sordid and ugly as crime really is.”
Although a firm wide-release date has yet to be announced for Sushi Girl, this is definitely a quirky gem worth looking out for.