Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Have you discovered Takashi Miike yet for yourself? If not, and if you're a fan of extreme cinema that also manages to play smart, then you owe it to yourself to seek him out. Quint didn't even realize what a gem he was getting a peek at when he saw this film last year, and finally got around to writing a review for it now.
Ahoy there, squirts. Everybody's favorite crusty ol' seaman, Quint, here once more, this time with a look at sicko Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike's elusive Ichi The Killer.
Before getting into this whacky, gross out superhero epic, I must admit that I had never heard of Takashi Miike before seeing this film. I'm willing to bet that a fair amount of you out there haven't heard of him either, but after seeing just one of his films... Well, you'll either avoid his work like it was a 3 month old swollen, putrid and rotting corpse or worship the ground that this guy walks on.
After seeing this film (last October at the great Vancouver Film Festival, that had a Miike series going on that I'm now kicking myself for missing) I had a desire to see his other works, being the sick fuck I am. Miike's films are not easy to come by, but somehow, miraculously, one of his films called Audition got art house distribution and I finally could cement this man as the coolest, sick-ass filmmaker currently working today. If you have seen Audition, then you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, keep on reading. I'll give you a taste of Miike.
Ichi the Killer... Holy fucking Christ, dude. Wanna know how sick this film is? The title of the film forms in a puddle of cum. Wanna know how cool this movie is? Ichi is a nervous, twitchy guy that envisions raping school girls and kills people when he gets a hard-on. He's a mild mannered guy, but if you piss him off (or turn him on) razor blades pop outta the back of his shoes and he chops off a limb or two with one quick kick. And he's the good guy!!!!!
Wanna know what's even cooler? The Lex Luthor to Ichi's Superman is a young, deranged, torture happy gang member who uses long, metal knitting needle looking things as his weapons of choice. And the design of this character! I snagged a picture of him for you folks! Check him out!
See those rings on both sides of his mouth? See the scars on his cheeks? When he smokes in the movie, the smoke exhales through those cuts in his cheeks! When he gets into a fist fight at one point in the movie, he takes the rings out and when he gets socked in the teeth his mouth opens up extremely wide and he chews on the opponents hand! I'm telling you, there's some crazy fucking shit in this movie! And it's all live action! The bountiful gore is all cartoonish and over the top (one guy gets split in half down the middle), the whole movie is shot with cartoony light... It feels like a comic book filmed. I'm willing to bet that Ichi the Killer came from a comic book of some sort.
Will you ever get to see this movie? For those hardcore geeks out there, I'm sure you or one of your hardcore friends will eventually track down a Hong Kong VCD or find it on the shelf of your local indie, mom and pop video store. Not that I'm advocating the support of bootleg videos... Ahem... Just merely saying you have to see this film. I've wanting to show this film to my friends for a while and haven't found a copy, but trust me, it'll be out there sometime. This thing has cult written all over it... I mean... There's a torture scene in the film that will make you pick up your jaw off the floor. The scene feels very Hellraiser-ish, but then you see that demented fuck and what he does with those knitting needles and Barker's world is completely forgotten. All you can do is cringe and thank God that's not you. Here's a little taste of it for you:
Takashi Miike has become one of my favorite working filmmakers today. His stuff is second to none and totally plays into my favorite kinda film. Fun, sick, disturbing and completely off the wall. You never know what to expect in a Miike film and I LOVE THAT! With every film of his I see, the closer to Cinema God status Miike gets.
At any rate... If you like sick and depraved films chocked with Dead Alive-ish humor and cartoony violence, then Ichi is your film. Hunt it down. Find it. Honestly, as a film, it kinda has a bit of a pacing problem... maybe the performances or writing are over the top... but you know what? In a film like this, absolutely none of that matters. Ichi had no more cinematic problems than, say... The Story of Ricky (aka Ricky-O). If you're at all snobbish about this kind of film, then avoid Ichi like the plague. He'll cum on you, chop you up bit by bit with his feet and leave you behind for his adversary to stick them needles where it hurts. If you don't have a stick up your ass when it comes to film, you'll enjoy every minute of Ichi the Killer.
That's the end of my Ichi rant, folks. If you see it playing at a film festival near you and gore makes you happy, be first in line. You won't be disappointed. As for me, I need to head to the docks. Some bastard shark is tormenting the waters off of Mustang Island. I'll be back with some more reviews, interviews, a cool-ass set visit and my coverage of the South By Southwest Film Festival. 'Til that day, squirts, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
email: I love gore!! And gore loves me!!
