Review of Gozu (2003) by Dan G — 27 Mar 2009
Director Takashi Miike fully admits that this film is, if not an outright homage to the works of David Lynch (particularly from his "Lost Highway" period), then it is at least deeply inspired by it.
And set in the Yakuza genre. With lots of seemingly random, vague Eastern mythology symbolism that most Western viewers won't get in the slightest. This all amounts to a long, rather dull mess of a film; perhaps even for Miike aficionados.
In the style of Lynch (with a Yakuza film twist), it's all there: random occurrences, bizarre poor people, sexual dysfunction and laid-back promiscuity... but without the heart Lynch usually manages to include.
Gozu has highlights but they are just neat random concepts. Vagueness CAN make a movie cool but really it takes a bit more than that; vagueness by itself can't make a movie. This film could have really benefited form explaining away just SOME of the randomness.
And the culture barrier doesn't help, either. Ultimately, the film's trailer, which showcases the wildly over the top opening and snippets of the traumatic ending, is more entertaining than the film itself (as it skips over the whole plodding middle).
This review of Gozu (2003) was written by Dan G on 27 Mar 2009.
Gozu has generally received positive reviews.
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