Review of Ichi the Killer (2001) by Dsfsdfdsf S — 14 Aug 2012

Miike does not deserve a lifetime of cheap Tarantino comparisons; he owes more to Lynch and Jodorowsky than any of the MTV generation directors, and can evoke a bad dream or some half-remembered childhood memory better than anyone I'm aware of. For all the nipple-slicing and splatter, Ichi the Killer never feels extreme for the sake of it; Miike seems to view violence and perversion in a dry sociological light, and there's an absurd humor to how straight he plays it in juxtaposition with serious meditations on devotion and power dynamics between dysfunctional, lonely individuals. It's a constant negotiation between the subtle and the cartoonishly extreme, and the Boredoms soundtrack does a great job emphasizing the escstatic fever-dreamish atmosphere of the whole affair.

Essential modern exploitation.