autaku

Fans of Japanese cinema will no doubt be familiar with auteur filmmaker Takashi Miike, though with a catalogue of work as large as his it’s perhaps just as likely you haven’t seen it all. Miike is notorious for the controversial nature of many of his films and many viewers are turned off by the decidedly adults-only content and unique brand of humour present in some of his more popular films. Others however may compare Miike to Quentin Tarantino, and beyond comparisons of skill it’s certainly easy to see the connection considering the polarising effect of both creators’ works. But enough of that, let’s get onto the film at hand: Miike’s 2001 yakuza thriller Ichi the Killer, based on the manga by Hideo Yamamoto.

I really need to get this out of the way first: Ichi the Killer is violent, sadistic, vulgar, challenging and at times downright distasteful. Despite this – and sometimes because of it – it’s also a whole lot of fun. This is most certainly not a film for the easily offended (that’s an understatement) and a bit of the old ultra-violence is only the beginning. There are multiple scenes of women being beaten, raped or both. In fact, Ichi opens with one such scene save for a short sequence beforehand. There is no denying that these scenes are uncomfortable to watch – it’s unavoidable by the very nature of the act – but Miike has been somewhat merciful and I wouldn’t call these the most horrific rape scenes ever put to film. Rounding out the depravity are numerous scenes of torture and disfigurement – one particularly nasty sequence involves hooks, needles and cooking oil – and even a couple of scenes of sexual sadomasochism. Not to mention that the film’s title is presented rising out of a small pool of semen (reportedly real semen provided by members of the cast and crew).

You can’t help but laugh as you squirm at ideas like that – I couldn’t, anyway – and while it’s not always easy to stomach, most of the blood and gore pushes into completely over-the-top territory that eases the impact. Characters are split in half, faces are sliced off; at times it’s more hilarious than it is disgusting and this is an enjoyable and welcome element given the undeniably sickening nature of some other scenes. Still, Ichi the Killer is more than blood and sex. It also features (deeply) black comedy that plays off the extremities and ensures that you’ll laugh at least as much as you wince. One of the finest examples of this comes as lead character Kakihara (played by Tadanobu Asano) cuts out his own tongue only to answer his phone a moment later. It’s a unique, twisted sense of humour that perhaps not many viewers will find appealing, but I must admit that I do.

Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) is a true sadist.

The plot largely follows Kakihara as he leads his gang in search of their previous leader’s killer. Kakihara is brutal and sadistic in the truest sense, so psychotic and unpredictable that you’ll be almost mesmerised waiting to see what he’ll do next. The film also follows the eponymous Ichi (played by Nao Omori), a tortured and cowardly young man with psychotic tendencies who wears a superhero costume when out killing “bullies”. Ichi isn’t overly fond of killing though, and you’ll learn more about how he came to be the way he is as the movie progresses. This is a fairly intriguing side-note to the main story, which progressively winds Kakihara and Ichi’s stories into a climactic showdown between the two. The general plot is pretty standard yakuza fare, but the presentation is strong, the characters are insanely unique (quite literally), and the film as a whole is the work of a wild imagination.

Ichi the Killer is a difficult film to review and and recommend generally. It’s constructed and acted well enough – there are some nicely framed shots and interesting angles, the editing is mostly tight and Kakihara and Ichi are strongly characterised by Asano and Omori respectively – but while these technical positives make it a much better film, it’s the content that will make or break Ichi for most viewers. I enjoyed it, but I’ll guess that most people probably won’t. Even some fans of director Takashi Miike’s other work may find this a little too much to handle: it lacks the relative subtlety of a film like Audition and is, in my experience of Miike’s catalogue, his most visually savage work.

Ichi (Nao Omori) seems to think he's some sort of superhero.

But with all this said of the violence, I still found that it was not quite as horrific as many reviewers seemed to indicate in my pre-viewing research. Perhaps I expected too much, and I’d say with certainty that I’m glad I didn’t get what I was expecting, as Ichi effortlessly earns its R rating. The various scenes of rape are incredibly uncomfortable and there’s plenty of distasteful content, but most of the violence is so gloriously over-the-top in its excess and revelry that I found it hard not to revel along with it, at least a little bit. Ichi the Killer is not for everyone, but it is certainly a unique and enjoyable (albeit at times challenging) film for those with the stomach for it. If you think you’re up for the ride, I do recommend it.

Ichi the Killer is available on DVD and is due for release on Blu-Ray on August 11, 2009.