Ichi the Killer (2001)

Tagline: Full of blood and guts and grease off the rod

WARNING: This movie contains scenes that will disturb almost every rational adult.

I admit that I had some difficultly watching this movie. The reason I watched it was that I have been reliably informed that Japanese Yakuza movies will be the next big thing, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about for this move in particular. When the film's title rise out of a puddle of semen (Takeshi Miike's actual semen), you know the movie is going to be different from anything you have seen before. Takeshi Miike has split audiences down the middle, from those who get extreme joy and happiness from his movies to "It'll be a cold day in hell before I waste any more time on Takeshi Miike movies!"

When Yakuza boss Anjo gets murdered, it is set up to make it look like he has fled with all the money belonging to the gang. His right hand man Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) starts looking for him and torturing people not really for information, but because he enjoys it.

He goes too far when he cooks human tempura using a rival gang boss and he is kicked out of his gang. What Kakihara doesn't know is that mastermind Jijii (Shinya Tsukamoto) was behind the disappearance of his boss and he is using Ichi (Nao Omori) to wipe out gang members one by one.

We don't meet Ichi properly into much later in the movie where he is talking to the woman who was beat up at the start of the movie. He couldn't be more different than Kakihara and you know that there is really no escape for anyone who is associated with him. I have tried to explain some of the plot here, but I found it somewhat hard to follow. The story does jump around a lot in a way that I am not used to.

Although the title refers to Ichi, it is really Kakihara who is the main focus. Tadanobu Asano is excellent here with his portrayal as sadomasochist. I have heard from someone who is into the scene talk about this movie and they say that he has nailed what it is like to get excited the idea of inflicting pain on yourself and others. In particular when he runs around like an excited schoolboy when Ichi is after him and also when he tells off someone who his punching him in the face for not hitting hard enough.

In contrast Ichi (Nao Omori) is played as a really pathetic figure that even young boys could kick the crap out of. He spends most of the movie crying and you can't really take his side that much. I have heard that his character is much more well developed in the Manga on which this is based, but the actor didn't have that much to work with here.

The other characters/victims are all well played, but they are really in the shade compared to the performances of Kakihara and Ichi so you don't notice them that much. I did like the gruff Yakuza member who is called a "Gorilla" by Jijii and also the ex-cop who is just awaiting his fate after being forced to join the gang.

The story is based on a Manga called "Koroshiya 1" by Hideo Yamamoto. He was originally meant to write the script, but Sakichi Satô was bought in when he had trouble adapting it. The writing makes Kill Bill look like a children's story and even the extreme blood letting of the Lone Wolf and Cub series pales in comparison.

It is a very striking looking film with lots of fast edits and video effects. The music is also very strange and experimental sounding, but it suits the film very well. It even turns up as the ring tone of the main character's mobile which is a nice touch.

Most of the credit for the way the extreme torture scenes and guts everywhere should go to Yuuichi Matsui who was in charge of special make up effects. Even though I have worked in an abattoir for a few months the scenes still disturbed me as they looked very realistic. The work they did on Kakihara and the "human tempura" scene that took 12 hours to do the makeup for deserve special mention.

Although most people would not notice them with all the killing, I thought the costumes in this movie were great. Kakihara's outfits are so flamboyant they would rival Chairman Kaga from Iron Chef. In contrast Ichi's simple black rubber suit with the number one emblazoned on the black in yellow reflective tape is very striking.

Something some people might not want to deal with is that some of the torture scenes are played for laughs. Evil Dead II combined comedy and horror, but it is done much more seriously here. I did find a couple of the shots funny such as the "eat fist" scene, but these were a rarity.

The thing that worried me the most about this movie and what I couldn't deal with was the depiction of violence against women. I don't know how, but this sort of thing makes me enraged and depressed at the same time. When the opening scene is of a woman being punched and then raped it leaves itself open for criticism. The film shows something that showed never be used as entertainment just for the sake of it

I also had trouble with the nipple torture scene as it just came out of nowhere. I know people actually do that sort of thing in real life, but I don't want to know about it.

I would find it hard to recommend this movie to anyone except if you are into sadomasochism then this would be the perfect movie for you. If you still want to see it and are not into the scene, I recommend using the same method the Vikings used to take their special "bezerker" mushrooms. Find a friend who you think will be able to stand it and if you still want to watch the movie after what they tell you about it then you can try watching it yourself.

Rating: 1/10

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