GOZU
I was deep in my Tartan Asia Extreme and Miike phase when I found GOZU.
This time Miike shows us a different kind of world. The film follows a Yakuza enforcer who looses Ozaki, his Yakuza brother who was under his protection.
For him to reach Ozaki he must enter the underworld (hell) which is full of mind-bending imagery and characters that you won’t forget about in a hurry – one of the characters is a half-human/half-cow, or a Minotaur? I am not 100% but it was pretty damn freaky.
The trailer blew me away when I first viewed it. I remember thinking, what in the name of fuck is this? then out of nowhere the last scene of the trailer was a woman giving birth to a fully grown man. I know it sounds twisted, but that was me sold. My WTF-O-Meter went off the scales.
Gozu [DVD] [2003]
VISITOR Q
When the time comes and you’ve decided that you’re going to watch a Takeshi Miike movie – you know as well as me, that anything can happen on the screen – and out of all of his movies, I think Visitor Q had the most effect on me.
A film that most definitely won’t be for everyone, Miike gives us his interpretation and idea of reality TV
The film focuses on a dysfunctional family. When I say dysfunctional, I don’t mean, We’re The Millers dysfunctional, this is way beyond anything you could ever imagine.
The father of the family is a failed News reporter who has an idea for a new TV show that focuses on his son who is getting bullied. The son takes out his anger on his mother – as a result of the abuse – the mother has secretly turned to heroin and has formed a nasty addiction
Visitor Q [DVD] [2001]
LESSON OF EVIL
Takeshi Miike gives us a twisted story about an intelligent sociopath with no empathy for anyone or anything. He hides this well though and is loved and respected by everyone around him – with everyone around him not knowing that he has been killing people since he was 14 years old. He was educated at Harvard in the United States and somehow managed to find someone who shared the same interest and just enjoyed killing people for fun so he continued his murder spree there.
He moves back to Japan to pursue his career as a teacher and is not impressed by the way students are treating each other.
He works at a high as an English teacher but is frustrated with all the bullying that is going on around him. He comes up with a plan and traps the students in the school during an exam – he confiscates the student’s phones and blocks the signal for any incoming or outgoing calls.
This film has been compared by many to two of the Japanese greats, Battle Royale and Confessions – it’s easy to see why people are making that comparison.
Another solid masterpiece from Takeshi Miike full of great performances from a very young talented cast.
Lesser Evil [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
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