Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Ichi the Killer/ 殺し屋１(Koroshiya Ichi) (2001)

5/25/2024

Ichi the Killer/ 殺し屋１(Koroshiya Ichi) (2001) - Miike's world-shocking yakuza splatter

♥♥♥

Pain, mutilation and pleasure seem to converge on this raw poster for Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer

The boss of a Yakuza gang has gone missing with a lot of money. Needle enthusiast/psychopath Kakihara gets to a conclusion through the use of extensive torture: It is a brainwashed guy by the name of Ichi who has murdered the boss.

Ichi the Killer is written by Sakichi Sato (Doreiku: Boku to 23-nin no dorei (2014)), based on the same-titled 1998-01 manga by Hideo Yamamoto (Homunculus (2003-11)), and directed by Takashi Miike (Shinjuku kuroshakai: Chaina mafia sensô (1995)). The original Japanese title translates to 'hitman one'.

'The Japanese are nuts. Totally depraved.' - This could be one fair takeaway from watching Ichi the Killer.

The story of the film is very strange, and it is mostly made up of torture and murder scenes, along with very long takes of things that are hard to comprehend, and a bit of dialog. Some of the setups are beautifully staged, and the sound side and special effects of the film are impressive.

Everything is aesthetic in this highly Japanese vision of horrific sadomasochism.

Takashi Miike: Imprint (2006, TV movie) - Venture far, far abroad with Miike's hard-to-watch Masters of Horror entry

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Audition/オーディション (Ōdishon) (1999) - Miike hamstrings your sleep

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Estimated 1.4 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Ichi the Killer premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place around August 2000 in Tokyo, Japan. Details surrounding its commercial performance in Japan and the few other markets it was released in (besides a long list of festival screenings) are regrettably hard to come by. The film was banned in Norway and Malaysia and cut in other countries. Miike returned with Agitator/Araburu tamashii-tachi (2001). Tadanobu Asano (Shogun (2024, TV-series)) returned in Mizu no onna (2002); Nao Ômori (First Love/Hatsukoi (2019)) in Quartet (2001). Ichi the Killer is fresh at 65 % with a 6.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ichi the Killer?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

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Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

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Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

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Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

5/25/2024

Ichi the Killer/ 殺し屋１(Koroshiya Ichi) (2001) - Miike's world-shocking yakuza splatter

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