Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Ichi the Killer - Film
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Why is Takeshi Miike so utterly fantastic. What we have here is a yakuza/action film turned cult. I can't say too much about the plot because I'm no spoiler, so I will only say this much:
In the quiet little gangster neighborhood of Shinjuku, yakuza Boss Anjo goes missing, and the gangsters of the powerful Anjo group (many Miike regulars) must find him, sparing no life or expense. Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), of the Anjo group, is determined to find his boss (and S&M partner...) using his expertise in torture and masochism to get his information. This guy is nuts, and he has done some interesting thing with his, well, face. Dig it. So, anyways, while Kakihara and his comrades are terrorizing the city...and many-a-yakuza...a young boy (Nao Omori) and his mentor Jijii (Shinya Tsukamoto) might be causing some trouble of their own. Lot's of competitive torture, unlucky prostitutes, vengance, tragedy, blood, guts, searing hot oil, shoes with razors, obsessions, delusions, illusions, morals, uncomfortably pointy objects, chains, running, fighting, sex, sex bi-products, suits and sequined shirts, you name it...Miike delivers! The most bizaare, and usually most f@#!ed up thing that could possibly happen in each situation, in each scene, DOES. Oh yes. It almost can come off as predictable, but in the most gratifying way, if you like the rather shocking sort of stuff. By the way, you MUST watch the unrated version to get the full effect, otherwise you are being cheated.
I reccomend this one. Very much. It's very cool. Check it out.
