 Thanks for checking out this movie review. This is for the 2001 Japanese film Ichi the Killer by Takashi Mike I know some people say it differently Takashi Mike or Miike. I don't know. I say Mike Ben a fan of Takashi Mike for a while actually, but this is the first of his films I'm covering this film, you know, is it necessarily horror. I don't know I wouldn't really call it straight up horror But I think it gets kind of lumped into the horror category because of the brutality of it all the kills in it The SMM aspect to it all that type of stuff a lot of people don't know where to throw it genre-wise I mean it is crime and it is a bit thriller But it gets thrown in horror all the time and that's why it's on shutter right now when I am doing this review And that's where I watched it even though I have a DVD version of it back in here somewhere Actually own a bunch of Mike films. I'm a fan Anyway, like I said directed by Takashi Mike which I don't think he's ever written any of his material He's a very prolific director at one point I think he was pumping out directing like seven films a year for a while, which is insane That is totally insane. So anyway, some of the films he's done a ton a ton a ton of films So I'm just gonna name some of the films that I've seen that I would recommend seeing Dead or alive, I mean all three of them, but it's diminishing returns Fudo Shinjuku Triad Society Lay Lines the Great Yokai War Iso deadly outlaw Wrecker Sukiyaki Western Django 13 assassins imprint Audition and gozu a lot of its films are really out there real crazy real wacky That's Mike Screenplay about was by Sakeichi Sato who also wrote screenplays for Ichi the killer episode zero and won the Ichi Gozu which Mike directed Tokyo zombie, which I've heard good things about a chain of cursed murders This one is interesting zero man versus half the half virgin and Meatball machine Kadoku which I have the first meatball machine. I need to see more of them That's fun, and it's based on a manga by Hideo Yamamoto Who also did who also has film credits for mangas for films based off of mangas He's done Including stop the bitch campaign stop the bitch campaign again Ichi the killer episode zero and won Ichi It stars Ted nobu Osano, which by the way, he's my favorite Foreign actor probably I was gonna say my favorite Japanese actor, and then I thought a little bit I'm like, I think he's my favorite foreign actor period and he's definitely up there as far as like overall favorite actors He's he's great. He's kind of considered when I was reading one time I was reading that he's kind of considered like the Johnny Depp of Japan I don't know if that's the same now, but this was you know a while ago He's been in some films like electric dragon eight eighty thousand volts bright future Last life in the universe, which is an amazing film. It is not horror at all. It's not action It's a slow film, but it is an amazing film Make sure you see that last life in the universe the blind swordsman Zatichi Tokyo zombie Mongol the rise of Genghis Khan a Lot of people will know him from Thor and Thor Ragnarok. He's been in the Thor films He's not a huge role, but he's in there and then this is an interesting one I saw it on his IMDb credits Apparently for the 2021 Mortal Kombat he's gonna be Raiden. I Like that. I love that actually so a little bit of information on You know little tidbits about the film It's been banned in several countries because of the brutality in the gore Not a big surprise there because there are films that are less intense and less brutal and less gory that have been banned from countries The semen in the beginning of this film that that is kind of like a puddle of semen outside of the the apartment Where each was masturbating while he was watching a woman get beat up and raped This it when it forms the title of the film that is actual semen. I think it was one of the the crew members provided it Interesting and that that's directly from Mika in one of the director's commentaries Mika wanted Yamamoto the guy who wrote the manga for it to write the script But he claimed that he really wasn't able to because he had some severe writer's block So that's why he didn't do it himself Otherwise, he would have which would have been interesting to see what he would have done because I know that There were some differences. I'm not really gonna go over all the differences, but I know there were some differences Kakihara's ringtone Asano's character Kakihara in the film who's probably the most iconic character from the film other than Ichi and Actually, it's probably just the most iconic because he's a stronger character. He's a more interesting character. He's certainly the most flashy The way he dresses is awesome. I love his outfits outfits in the film But anyway, his ringtone in the film is the theme song for the film So just a little tidbit In the manga actually the character of Kakihara is not good-looking at all and he's not like a thin dude He's like kind of a little bit bigger and he's ugly. He's like a disgusting person Yamamoto says the story is actually a love story because This is what it said due to Kakihara and Ichi being the opposite on the opposite ends of the spectrum of SNM Which is Seido masochism Sadism and masochism so obviously you see it and Ichi is obviously the sadist and Kakihara is obviously the masochist because he likes having violence and and You know painful things done to him So if you watch the film knowing that that Yamamoto the creator says it's ultimately a love story about these two coming together You really see it in the film not like every step of the way But you do see it and I will kind of talk about a little bit of stuff like that because in the end I mean, there is a lot of kind of like in anticipation especially on Kakihara's part of finally meeting Ichi because since Anjo his his boss wasn't around anymore. He's very depressed. He's very sullen and that's because Anjo used to beat him and The way he did he liked that was the part part of his masochism So since then no one's been able to come close and he feels like he's been let down a lot by that so he In the end obviously finds Ichi and it's kind of the ultimate experience for him from a masochistic standpoint and you feel the anticipation and see the anticipation from Kakihara throughout the film of Working up and being like oh, he's getting closer. He's coming for me and then even towards the end He's saying, you know, I feel scared, but when he's saying that he's scared. He's like giddy It's kind of like he's like excited for a first date with someone he's meeting So watch the film and think about that stuff. It's very interesting The crazy disorienting visuals in the very beginning of this film are crazy and disorienting I don't really like that aspect of it, but you know, that's kind of a thing that Mika will do in films Yeah Ichi Ichi was beating off on the balcony in the beginning because of the mix of the sex and the violence going on Obviously you you end up learning a lot more about Ichi in his background Obviously initially you think that his background and where all that comes from is because he witnessed a girl being raped by bullies But then you later find out that Gigi. I think his name is Gigi Had hypnotized him and made all of that up and then and that really what had happened is his kid murdered his parents So he goes through this kind of struggle throughout the film that you really end up seeing quite a bit Not really knowing who he is being very confused about what he's feeling because he's told by Gigi and the hypnosis The ideas that have been implanted in him through hypnosis He thinks that he's driven by revenge against bullies He's trying to rid the world of world of bullies because that's what his boss is telling him But in actuality and what he ends up kind of finding out at the end is that he truly is a sadist And that's in his true past of murdering his parents and just being a violent person by nature So you kind of see him Have that journey as well Throughout the film. How much would it suck to be the cleanup guy for the Yakuza? I say that because we're watching the very beginning where all those guys are kind of complaining about how they have to go In and clean up after Ichi which every time he kills he believes a Incredible mess especially because of that all that a arterial spray that ends up going on which It happens in Japanese films quite a decent amount and it always makes me laugh Like I feel like it's an over-the-top thing that actually makes the violence not as intense or scary It makes it more wacky and funny and I think one of the things is one of the reasons that I don't have such a terrible like visceral reaction to a film like Ichi the Killer is because Between the music the that things like the arterial spray and the way that Miki shoots the film with like a lot of weird Kind of off-kilter angles and getting in like oddly close to characters and almost doing a little bit of like an evil dead type angle thing at times I think those things keep it feeling just weird and odd and wacky Instead of intense and scary and disgusting So it's weird. It's it's this weird kind of dichotomy of like this terrible intense gory stuff going on right here, but the feel of it is very different It's way lighter, which is super odd Which actually When you think about it would make sense because someone who's into SNM would kind of view it that way as not being at as you know Scary or intense they would view it as being more you know kind of light and You know interesting The first look at cocky heart is interesting I assume that the scars that he has on himself are probably self-inflicted maybe done by someone else I say probably self-inflicted just because of what happens later with this whole tongue-cutting situation Which I'll talk about that a little bit As an audience member you feel like you need to play catch-up somehow because you're just plopped in the middle of Yakuza dealings with basically no context But then again, you know, this is something that Mikae does a decent amount with his films Especially when they're Yakuza related films, which he's done a decent amount of Yakuza related films It's just something he likes to go for And it's interesting because it literally is like you're just dropped in the middle of stuff going on because literally you're dropped in the middle of drama between a bunch of kind of Yakuza clans basically in this film and then it takes you a little bit to catch up and You're just like, okay now I understand what's going on here The first torture scene of the guy suspended and the use of the shrimp tempura hot oil On the back is certainly a way to kind of set the tone as far as the brutality and violence I think it's probably the most intense and messed up of all the scenes in my opinion or at least for me personally Especially when you end up seeing how much joy it's bringing cocky horror in the film Like you see in that in that scene how much inflicting pain really makes him happy, but then later on in the film you see how it's Having pain inflicted on him makes him even more happy so Ichi seeing the girl at the club is the next step of seeing who he is as a person It's kind of these layers that keep getting pulled back of Ichi throughout the film He needs to relive seeing her being beaten and that's the woman He goes to see at the club after he had been outside of her balcony watching her being beaten and raped and then he shows up And he he likes seeing the aftermath and remembering what he was seeing and then having her talk about it That's his fetish, you know that gets him off It then goes to the scene of cocky horror cutting his tongue So after the scene of of Ichi reaching you know going and seeing this woman It's this intense thing of pleasure for him at that point That's kind of like his height of pleasure at the moment And then it goes right after that to the scene of cocky horror cutting his tongue off Which is a parallel of Ichi's scene with the girl basically of cocky horror's height of Pleasure at that point as he cuts his own tongue off and then you can sense it you can tell it So I thought it was cool that they kind of did that Mika has a bunch of odd and eccentric characters in his films That's another thing that happens a lot Prime example the guys with the clear masks and like all that like gotcha pawn those little you know like figures all over there You know beanies Also, you know the whole thing with the the brothers later on that you know The one puts like the little animal ears on and says he's gonna be like this the special You know animal detectives weird But that you know, that's Mika. That's what he does with these films He has these weird corky characters and that's part of what keeps films like this less tense less scary. Let's gory Well, I mean they're still gory, but just you feel it less The cut in half scene is crazy, but kind of looks funny Now because the CGI is bad and that's one of the things with this film I say all the time. I hate when Films have used CGI especially when they age because it never looks good over time So that's one of the things I don't like about each either killer watching it now Is that the CGI a lot of times doesn't look so hot you can tell it's not actually there. It's kind of like Paste it on and then the cut in half scene even though it is kind of cool and impressive Just isn't looking so solid anymore Already talked about the arterial spray can't tell you how much fun. I think that is in film It's funny how afraid everyone is of Kakihara all the time, especially in those moments where he acts very docile I love that. You know, obviously, he's he's a big wig. He's a big name He's everyone's afraid of him Especially because he doesn't mind taking punishment from others like he actually kind of welcomes it So, you know, how are you not gonna be afraid of a person who loves to dole out pain and punishment and doesn't care about having it? You know inactive back to him Ichi does seem confused. Yes. Okay, so we already talked about that I'll skip that. That's about him being confused initially but figuring out who he is eventually Kakihara is convinced that Ichi is coming for him, but he has no clue what an unfocused mess Ichi actually is That's one of the interesting things about Kakihara's perception of Ichi throughout this entire film is that he think thinks he's like this Sadistic mastermind who's got everything planned and he's just slowly coming after Kakihara and Kakihara almost kind of views it as It's like this intentional build-up that he's getting that like he's trying to make him scared He's trying to build it up for them But he's not, you know, it's just that Ichi can't figure out who he is It's this giant mess and he's just being told by Gigi, you know Where he has to go on what he has to do and he's just kind of fumbling through things So to see those two sides of it are interesting The scene of Kakihara catching the guy's fist in his mouth and then stripping all the skin off as he pulls it out is a pretty crazy one and It looks nuts. I think it's cool. It is relatively intense. I do like that scene quite a bit The woman pretending to be the girl who was raped becomes the catalyst for Ichi finally figuring out who he actually is and What he actually wants to be doing Although he does seem to kind of fall apart in the end once again But at least for a little bit he's he's hyper focused. He's like I know what to do and I know what I need to be doing here But I can't really my thought and I might be wrong. I don't know tell me in the comments I think maybe she was doing that as kind of like a Favor to her boss to kind of awaken Ichi because he had been saying that he was having you know focusing issues He couldn't you know, I think he was saying he could get hard, but he couldn't come basically So I think she was trying to like get him going and get him like back on track as far as like You know being ready to go for the boss to go, you know make the kills But other than that I couldn't figure out why she got in that situation because obviously it was very dangerous And ended up being deadly for her. It was nuts When Kakihara is talking about being scar scared of to meet Ichi he's giddy like he's nervous for the first date I know I already said this but it's very important at that part of the film because it feels very mismatched for what's coming and for And for what Kakihara should be feeling unless you're viewing it from the standpoint of what I was talking about about this kind of love You know love story of the relationship coming together. I Dig the way they did the slow motion for the chase scene on the rooftop That actually may be my favorite sequence of of the film visually because it looks so cool Like you can see especially in the expressions of Kakihara as he's kind of like you know maneuvering like he's gonna do his best to stay alive and To fight because that's part of the sport, but he's he's like scared and excited at the same time and I think the The slow-motion aspect of that rooftop scene really captures things really well. I love it The X cop walking towards his son while he's bleeding after he's had his throat cut It's kind of a ridiculous scene because he's like still moving even though he's lost Who knows how much blood, but it also just becomes funny because it drags on that long and it's all that like crazy arterial spray Although it's not going out. It's like going down, but it's just ridiculous Let's be honest the film is too long and it is actually pretty slow at times, but that's another thing It's kind of like this cultural thing a lot of Japanese films are on the slower side. They take their time actually a lot of Non-American films are kind of that way So so it becomes this issue where I know there are people who Won't watch Horne and I was gonna say I was gonna say horror. It's not just horror won't watch foreign films in general Not just because of subtitles, but because the films are slower We over the past bunch of decades have gotten to a point where they try and keep things You know shorter and more tight film-wise really moving action-packed and a lot of other You know countries aren't really doing that because they're trying to leisurely tell a story kind of take everything in look around You know soak in the environment and each of the killer is like that Although I would argue it probably needs to be cut down a little bit because it's a bit over two hours And I don't think there's really two hours worth of content there in my opinion All right Mika Mika is big on free-roaming camera work for this film It's always moving and it has lots of shots going down the streets Sometimes in like normal times sometimes kind of sped up But then also like doing these long scenes of following people places like through Hallways in the rooms up the stairs and stuff like that I like it because it feels almost a little bit like you're actually there like almost a little found footage Esk, but not quite crossing that boundary. So I like the way that plays it makes things feel a little more real Mika uses a lot of odd angles and has goofy characters with comedic moments These things help soften the mood of the brutality. I knew I already said this, but they definitely bears repeating That is a very important thing about why a lot of people can watch this film and not really have a big problem with it And I remember the first time I watch it, which I'll tell you in a minute For each he this is a pretty extreme example of doing what you love for a living Think about that because truly it is what he loves and he was getting paid I assume he was getting paid. I mean, there were jobs who's getting these envelopes of people he needed to kill Or maybe he was just surely doing it for the revenge that he thought he was getting when he wasn't actually getting any So good ending to this film good film overall The first time I ever saw this I'll tell you I had a friend who would watch all sorts of crazy stuff He gave the DVD to me and was like look. I want you to watch this film. It's insane. It's definitely worth seeing Don't watch it when anyone's around watch it at night before you go to bed because if somebody walks in when you're watching this film They're gonna judge you And I'm glad I took that advice I watched it late at night before I went to bed and I was just like wow. Yeah, I'm glad I did this on my own And then I felt like if I can watch this film I can watch any violent film pretty much I can see anything in a film because especially back when I saw it, which was probably around. I don't know 2005 ish I was like, oh my gosh, you know That's very intense that my senses were just like Overwhelmed. I had not experienced gore and brutality like that in a film before obviously seen a lot worse sense But yeah, I mean it was crazy at the time and some people would still say it is So anyway out of five stars with half stars Possible, I would give each of the killer a pretty solid three and a half star rating I'm not willing to go to a quite like a four star level. I think it is a good film. I don't think it's a great film For reasons that I kind of laid out I was between three and a half and four, but I think three and a half is kind of where it should be It is I recommend it if you haven't seen it, but no, it's extremely brutal But anyway, put your comments down here. I'd love to hear what you think about it Do you love it? Do you hate it? 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