Ichi the Killer (2001)
When Kakihara, a stylishly dressed, creatively body-modified, and gleefully sadomasochistic hit man’s boss disappears, he refuses to accept the death and he swears he will find him alive, but as time goes by, he finally accepts the truth.
Ichi, a disturbed and reluctant young man, also a sadistic hit man (who wears a fetishistic, bladed, full-body rubber suit) responsible for the crime boss’s death is now being sought for, not so much for revenge but, because of their shared and complementary fetishes, it’s clear the two are fated to meet.
It’s obvious Ichi is tortured by his actions but can’t help himself, (he cries when raping or killing), but is he acting on his own volition, or is he merely someone else’s pawn? Part of his bullied backstory as a child is related by an unreliable (apparent) mastermind, but to what purpose? (The film could hardly fill in all of the manga’s detailed plot, so much will go unexplained.)
Character’s motivations are easily understood, giving and receiving pain gives these folks pleasure and so they are out there looking for satisfaction, but they are all about as alien to a conventional audience as any character in a John Waters’ film.
Kakihara finally takes over the yakuza gang and there are some behind-the-scenes machinations, but none of it matters more than the much-anticipated meeting it's all leading up to.
Will it live up to the hype?
Rape and violent content are over the top, but a certain distancing effect is achieved by the cheap photography and crude, unrealistic SPX which range from truly dreadful digital gore effects, (a gag with a victim being bisected vertically was virtually lifted by the Kingsman franchise,) to some passable latex appliances.
With rape; brutal beatings; boiling oil, needle blades, nipple mutilation and threat of castration torture; a self-executed tonguectomy; broken bones; arterial blood sprays; and lots of mass murder (and its graphic, drippy aftermath with body parts galore), this is obviously not for everyone, but it might be exactly what some audiences of extreme cinema are looking for.
Takashi Miike’s fans should be quite familiar with the title already.
With Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Alien Sun and Sabu.
You have been warned.
When Kakihara, a stylishly dressed, creatively body-modified, and gleefully sadomasochistic hit man’s boss disappears, he refuses to accept the death and he swears he will find him alive, but as time goes by, he finally accepts the truth.
Ichi, a disturbed and reluctant young man, also a sadistic hit man (who wears a fetishistic, bladed, full-body rubber suit) responsible for the crime boss’s death is now being sought for, not so much for revenge but, because of their shared and complementary fetishes, it’s clear the two are fated to meet.
It’s obvious Ichi is tortured by his actions but can’t help himself, (he cries when raping or killing), but is he acting on his own volition, or is he merely someone else’s pawn? Part of his bullied backstory as a child is related by an unreliable (apparent) mastermind, but to what purpose? (The film could hardly fill in all of the manga’s detailed plot, so much will go unexplained.)
Character’s motivations are easily understood, giving and receiving pain gives these folks pleasure and so they are out there looking for satisfaction, but they are all about as alien to a conventional audience as any character in a John Waters’ film.
Kakihara finally takes over the yakuza gang and there are some behind-the-scenes machinations, but none of it matters more than the much-anticipated meeting it's all leading up to.
Will it live up to the hype?
Rape and violent content are over the top, but a certain distancing effect is achieved by the cheap photography and crude, unrealistic SPX which range from truly dreadful digital gore effects, (a gag with a victim being bisected vertically was virtually lifted by the Kingsman franchise,) to some passable latex appliances.
With rape; brutal beatings; boiling oil, needle blades, nipple mutilation and threat of castration torture; a self-executed tonguectomy; broken bones; arterial blood sprays; and lots of mass murder (and its graphic, drippy aftermath with body parts galore), this is obviously not for everyone, but it might be exactly what some audiences of extreme cinema are looking for.
Takashi Miike’s fans should be quite familiar with the title already.
With Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Alien Sun and Sabu.
You have been warned.
statistics: Posted by hermanthegerm — 9:19 PM - 1 day ago — Replies 0 — Views 138