Well humans, there are some things we put off for a long time. On top of that list for me, is building a submarine so I can observe young bikini clad ladies from below. The second that has been put off is watching Ichi the Killer. One of many films to come out during the early 2000’s wave of horror and gritty/graphically violent movies (such as The Grudge, Battle Royale, and Suicide club). I’ve watched many of them, but just never got around to viewing this gory flick that everybody seemed to talk about (many people telling me about how graphic it is). My eye balls finally got around to watching ole Ichi, so I present to you my critique and its place over the last decade. Based on the manga of the same name and directed by Miike Takeshi, here is Ichi the Killer.
Most people thought this guy in the poster was Ichi. I bet you did too. Don't lie.
This film starts off as the search for Anjou Yoshio (the boss of the Yakuza group, the Anjougumi family). Although he was killed off by the mysterious man known as Ichi(someone who is manipulated by his traumatic memories of not stopping a rape), one of the top yakuza members of Anjou still believes he is alive. He is Kakihara, a man obsessed with extremely painful and horrific sadomasochism, and goes on a very violent search for clues to find out who and why his boss was taken away. As time passes, we learn the reason behind all this madness, and who exactly the mentally unstable individual, Ichi is.
Ichi the Killer is a dark and slightly comical take on the Yakuza world. It is a very stylized setting where all the characters live in their own bizarre world. Each one having their own unique traits. Such as Kakihara and his scars, pins closing his slit cheeks, and his love for gruesome sadomasochism. Or Ichi, with his hysterical crying right before going for a kill.
Although this comes at a disservice when you see how flat it falls with the wooden acting. At the most, they are simply reading their lines without sounding bored. Nobody really emotes during strong emotion like anger or pain. A fine example of this is when the character of Suzuki is held up by hooks through his skin and is tortured by having long needles pierce his face.
How's it hanging?
The only stand out acting is from the raped women, and Ichi’s crying.
The tears of doom.
Then there is the use of gore. You got many strange ways people are tortured and killed. Such as slicing a woman’s nipples off the same way cocaine is cut on a glass table. Or the way a man’s severed face flies across the room and slides down a wall. Adding a comical element into the gruesomeness is how one guy has his face stretched from both sides by Kakihara and his friend, Karen. I will admit, that’s one of my favorite moments.
Most of the bloodiness is done by conventional prosthetics effects, with some cgi thrown in now and then. Although the cg stands out way too much and really throws things off. But is interesting seeing Ichi use his foot-blades slice people up.
You get two laughs for the price of one.
Then there is the comparison to the manga that it was based on. Now I am not making this review entirely about why the movie is different from the manga, but I happened to have read the manga about two years before stumbling on the film, and it’s hard to ignore how this affected its production. Many movie adaptations based on comics and manga are not going to come up exactly the same as the source material. But the process of bringing these characters and stories to live action can greatly affect the quality of end product (even if you are not aware that film was based on another source). By this I mean that Ichi the Killer suffers from trying to cram all the major plot points into just two hours (which is actual not enough time to tell everything that happens in the numerous pages of the manga). The manga could have been trimmed down and still properly told the story but this is not the case. It becomes a foot notes version of the plot.
Using a foot is also how this whole mess was caused.
Characters are just thrown at us very quickly, with only a sliver of explanation as to who they are. The thugs under leader Jii-san come off as simply characters in the background, and don’t have quite the effect when you see them mess up the plan, the way they did in the manga. The pacing is just too quick for events unfolding. Ichi himself is the only one who we truly get to know well in detail.
To director Takeshi’s credit, I will give him points for taking a more humorous route compared to the even more disturbing and straight forward tone of the manga. The illustrated work had a much closer link between sex and gore(and one of the most disturbing things drawn). Things such as a gun shot inside a man’s anus and homoerotic necrophilia (you don’t want to know what the women suffer). The character Kakihara practically worshipped the idea of pain. As ugly as things are in the film, I’m guessing Takeshi would have had an even harder time getting a more direct transition funded. In my opinion, I think he should used this to his advantage and amped up the humor. That would have made this film a true classic.
That line should have made into the movie.
So that is the notorious Ichi the Killer. A film that lived in infamy among those inside and outside of Japan during its debut. After seeing this film, I am more aware of why Miike Takeshi would form a film studio with the makers of The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police. But overall, I’d say this movie is maybe worth maybe one viewing for curiosity’s sake. Once the goriness of it wears off, it doesn’t hold up a decade later.
Ichi The Killer
Director: Miike Takeshi
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Shinya Tsukamoto ,Nao Omori
Release Year: 2001
Language: Japanese
Running Time: 129
About the author: Glitch is a digital demon from planet Fanboy, and is here to teach us humans a thing or two. You can find more of his reviews(and nonsense) over at http://www.youtube.com/takenoutofcontext, https://www.facebook.com/takenoutofcontext
Running Time: 129