07/13/2004

It’s Sorta Looks Like Kill Bill Meets Being John Malkovich

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

So Takeshi Miike has another movie coming out (I forgot it was already Tuesday) and its called Izo. It’s about a time traveling samurai (I think). Anyway, here’s the site, which has a link to the trailer …

http://www.izo-movie.com/

… Looks like your typical Miike offering, which is fairly obvious to anyone who’s familiar with his work.

Whenever any Japanese director make a film that’s just a tad bit quirky, he’s automatically labeled as “gonzo” here in the states. But Miike has definitely earned that title; take Visitor Q for example. It’s all about a failed television news reporter who gets his head bashed in my a total stranger, and then decides to take the guy home to visit his family. The reported later has sex with a dead news anchor, while his wife lactates all over the kitchen floor for the stranger. Plus other stuff happens too. It’s a really good movie.

When Miike tries to shock his audience, it actually works. New York is a pretty tough crowd, but I’ve never seen so many people walk out of a theater like during the climax of Audition. As much as I liked Seven, I hardly found the ending “disturbing” like the popular consensus. But I could barely handle Audition’s, and my tolerance for graphic violence is about as high has it comes.

Plus the guy’s a workaholic. He makes like six movies a year, minimum, and they’re almost always something different, from gangster flicks to musicals, though most end up with bloody and are always bizarre. Izo looks to be no different.

And it seems to star a million Japanese stars, from Takeshi Kitano to Bob Sapp.

  • Anonymous

    Do you happen to know what music it is that is playing through the trailer for Izo?

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