FILMAKER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW (Taken from Justin Lin's Myspace blog)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

By Justin Lowe

When animated Cars go up against modified street racers this weekend, keep an eye on the career trajectory of The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drifts young director Justin Lin.

A filmmaker whos vaulted from a low-budget independent first feature to a summertime blockbuster in just three movies is clearly someone to watch. Writer-director Lins solo debut, 2003s Better Luck Tomorrow, was a dark, incisive drama plumbing the social depths of wayward Asian-American teens that tore up the film festival circuit and went on to a national theatrical release through MTV Films.

Made for just $250,000, Better Luck Tomorrow opened up numerous opportunities for Lin, who ultimately selected a studio project as his second feature, the coming-of-age drama Annapolis. Released by Touchstone Pictures earlier this year, the film featured James Franco as an amateur boxer struggling through his first year at the U.S. Naval Academy.  But Lins career truly shifts into high gear with this weeks release of The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third installment in Universal Studios street racing franchise.

Its been three years since fans felt the jolt of adrenaline delivered by John Singletons 2 Fast 2 Furious, starring Paul Walker as a disgraced cop trying to avoid jail behind the wheel of a customized racer.  With Tokyo Drift, Lin thoroughly revitalizes The Fast and Furious franchise, offering a new story, fresh cast and dynamic setting: the world of Japanese drift racing. The result is a postmodern East-meets-Western with enough eye candy and gut-churning G-force to satisfy ardent fanatics and newcomers alike. As an alternative to religious riddlers and reheated superheroes, Tokyo Drift is the popcorn movie of the summer.

Less a sequel than an innovative take on a superbly successful filmmaking formula, Tokyo Drift largely dispenses with its predecessors characters and plotlines. I wanted to try something brand-new, make it fresh and part of that was to move it away from the other two movies, Lin says.

Drift racing, which, for the uninitiated, seems so visually wacky as to be a CG invention, is actually a real sport that originated on Japans rural mountain roads.  Young drivers speed down steep curves by locking their cars rear wheels and skidding precariously through hairpin turns. The renegade sport quickly caught on in the world of legitimate racing, eventually exploding onto the international sports scene.

Tokyo Drift follows Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a high school street racer whos sent to live with his military-officer father (Brian Goodman) in Japan after a stateside arrest following a disastrous illegal race. Its not long before Sean discovers the underground world of Tokyo drift racing and quickly loses a heat to D.K. (Brian Tee), the local drift king and a low-level gangster.

Forced to work off his debt to American expat Han (Sung Kang) -- after borrowing and then wrecking Hans Nissan Slivia S15 in the race with D.K. -- Sean becomes totally immersed in the Tokyo underworld. Things really get complicated when Sean hooks up with D.K.s sexy girlfriend Neela (Nathalie Kelley), a student in his high school class, leading to an explosive final confrontation. 

What you have here is a Western, observes Lin. Its about a stranger that comes into town, boom, boom, boom and you end up with a showdown. But in Tokyo, where weapons are scarce but attitudes abundant, instead of a showdown with guns, we have cars and drifting against each other, he says.  

The directors fondness for his characters and storyline is clearly evident, but in this film Lin has taken a huge leap forward in terms of production value.  Lush lighting, precise production design and kick-ass camera work punctuate almost every scene. I really wanted  [the film] to be raw, he says. I wanted it to be energetic and I wanted you to feel the engines, to feel the race, to feel the car bodies, Lin explains. And theres lots of enticing car culture on display -- Tokyo Drift boasts the best variety of cool rides among the three films, with pride of place going to modified Japanese models.

Given the franchises star power, one of the filmmakers biggest challenges was to cast a lead actor in the role of Sean who could hold the screen with authority and authenticity. After a talent search that literally scoured the globe, they selected Black (Slingblade, Friday Night Lights), who plays the central character with a refreshing intensity.

I feel like Lucas has qualities that make a star. The thing about him is that hes truly fearless -- hes not posing or anything, Lin relates. Thats a quality I think you want to see onscreen in your leading man. Opposite Black, Peruvian-Australian newcomer Nathalie Kelley smolders as his forbidden love interest.

Just back from a brief break following the Tokyo Drift premiere, Lin is busy prepping his next film, a return to his indie roots that will reportedly reunite much of the Better Luck Tomorrow cast in a satirical 1970s-set feature titled Finishing the Game.  Lin will squeeze the production into the next six months before taking on the remake of Park Chan-wooks revenge thriller Oldboy for Universal.

I feel like its been a great journey I went from a credit card movie to a studio movie to a summer movie, and theyre all very different, he says. Its been a pretty amazing trip, especially in four years.

Hang on for Lins next career phase -- this rides just staring to get interesting. 

Justin Lowe is a freelance entertainment journalist and Filmmaker Magazine contributor based in Los Angeles.