onetwothreefour
Bluelight Crew
film: ichi the killer
i know a few people have seen this film, because i've seen it mentioned around.
anyway, i'm gonna do my lazy thing and post a review i wrote...
"Ichi the Killer is one of the most disgusting, horrific, depraved films that I've ever had the pleasure to watch.
Yep, I loved it.
If that description doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy, I'd advise you to play it safe and stay well away from this film. It's director Takashi Miike's cinematic adaptation of Hideo Yamamoto's original comic book story (though Yamamoto mentions on the commentary that it wasn't quite so gory in the beginning), and the way the action goes ahead on screen, you can totally see its manga roots. Just like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill(s) - which was inspired, in part, by this - watching Ichi the Killer is just like seeing a - rather messed up - cartoon come to life.
The story is fairly minimal, revolving around a young man's manipulation at the hands of a retired Yakuza boss. A parallel story, in which another Yakuza boss has gone missing with 100 million Yen, has his gang leader Kakihara searching him out, stopping along the way to indulge in some lovely bouts of excessive torture. Apart from that, all you need to know is that Ichi's a superhero, of sorts (albeit a little left of centre, and not really all that "super" at all) with a fetishistic penchant for sexual violence. Just your normal everyday drama then.
The lead role of Ichi is actually usurped somewhat, however, by the extraordinarily frightening - but somehow still fuck-off cool - Kakihara. If you like your characters depraved, you'll positively adore Kakihara. He likes torture, being beaten, self-mutilation, and long walks along the beach.
Seriously though, I haven't enjoyed a film like this - or at least on this kind of level - for quite some time. The pure visceral, though rather grotesque, thrill of seeing people split in two, have pins forced through their head, or faces sliding down a wall is all rather fantastic, in an admittedly sadistic kind of way. Stylistically, there are some very cool things going on here - the fight scenes aren't quite up to Matrix standards of 'cool', but they're great to watch nonetheless.
This is most definitely not a film for the faint of heart, but if you like totally over the top violence, kick arse Yakuza, and scary fuckin' Japanese blokes with only half a tongue, this should be a film that finds its way onto your shelf."
i know a few people have seen this film, because i've seen it mentioned around.
anyway, i'm gonna do my lazy thing and post a review i wrote...
"Ichi the Killer is one of the most disgusting, horrific, depraved films that I've ever had the pleasure to watch.
Yep, I loved it.
If that description doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy, I'd advise you to play it safe and stay well away from this film. It's director Takashi Miike's cinematic adaptation of Hideo Yamamoto's original comic book story (though Yamamoto mentions on the commentary that it wasn't quite so gory in the beginning), and the way the action goes ahead on screen, you can totally see its manga roots. Just like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill(s) - which was inspired, in part, by this - watching Ichi the Killer is just like seeing a - rather messed up - cartoon come to life.
The story is fairly minimal, revolving around a young man's manipulation at the hands of a retired Yakuza boss. A parallel story, in which another Yakuza boss has gone missing with 100 million Yen, has his gang leader Kakihara searching him out, stopping along the way to indulge in some lovely bouts of excessive torture. Apart from that, all you need to know is that Ichi's a superhero, of sorts (albeit a little left of centre, and not really all that "super" at all) with a fetishistic penchant for sexual violence. Just your normal everyday drama then.
The lead role of Ichi is actually usurped somewhat, however, by the extraordinarily frightening - but somehow still fuck-off cool - Kakihara. If you like your characters depraved, you'll positively adore Kakihara. He likes torture, being beaten, self-mutilation, and long walks along the beach.
Seriously though, I haven't enjoyed a film like this - or at least on this kind of level - for quite some time. The pure visceral, though rather grotesque, thrill of seeing people split in two, have pins forced through their head, or faces sliding down a wall is all rather fantastic, in an admittedly sadistic kind of way. Stylistically, there are some very cool things going on here - the fight scenes aren't quite up to Matrix standards of 'cool', but they're great to watch nonetheless.
This is most definitely not a film for the faint of heart, but if you like totally over the top violence, kick arse Yakuza, and scary fuckin' Japanese blokes with only half a tongue, this should be a film that finds its way onto your shelf."
