Review of Ichi the Killer (2001) by Jason W — 27 Oct 2009

The Yakuza, the Japanese crime syndicate, control crime on virtually every level of Japanese society. They bully the press and filmmakers to portray them as society's "noble outlaws, when in reality they'll torture and/ or kill anyone who gets in their way. Japanese filmmaker Juzo Itami had a price on his head after he portrayed the Yakuza as money grubbing, ill mannered miscreants in the movie Minbo no oona. He was attacked by five members of the Yakuza in a parking lot outside his house and sustained serious injuries. (He allegedly committed suicide years later by jumping off a tall building.) With Koroshiya 1 (Ichi the Killer) Takashi Miike takes on the Yakuza in his own unique way.

After the kidnapping, and possible brutal murder, of syndicate boss Anjo and the theft of 300 million yen Kakihara, Anjo's protege and chief of his syndicate, seeks to find the party responsible. A masochist who will stop at nothing to prove a point, not even stopping short of cutting off part of his own tongue, Kakihara gets word that Suzuki, another crime boss, was involved due to Kakihara cutting him out of Anjo's porn video business. Anjo's syndicate is kicked out of the Yakuza, though, after Kakihara brutally tortures and disfigures Suzuki without proper proof that Suzuki was behind Anjo's disappearance. With Kakihara as their new leader, the clan finds out from a former member that Anjo is dead, murdered by a mysterious man known as Ichi who brutally hacks his victims to pieces. Missing the sadist to his masochist, Kakihara seeks Ichi out, the one person who may be able to give him the pain that he needs.

Based on the manga of the same name by Hideo Yamamoto, Ichi the Killer is possibly one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen, and I mean that in a good way. Miike shoots this very brutal movie with unmatched style using jump cuts, slick camera moves, and interesting angles to tell a story that otherwise would have just been near torture porn. The characters are also colorful, if also severely disturbing, especially Kakihara who sports a harlequin smile and purple jacket similar to Batman's Joker, but is scarier and far more unpredictable.

Miike decides not to delve into the rights or wrongs of the Yakuza, and probably for the best after hearing the story of Juzo Itami, but instead takes a look at the brutality of the sadist/ masochist's relationship. But within this study of sadomasochism we still see the brutality of the Yakuza, even if its just amongst themselves and the different clans.

The one problem I have with this is that at times the gore and "action" is a tad bit over the top. Of course, this could also be because the film was adapted from a manga, meaning that it's closer to the film form of anime than a live action feature. At times the over the top action, takes you out of the film, and causes the film to loose some sense of reality. These times pass by shortly after as you see the aftermath of what just happened which once again drops you back you into the devastating reality of the flick.

All in all a great film, if gory and disturbing. If you have a weak stomach, or are adverse to gore I highly recommend that you stay away, and definitely don't allow the kids to watch. But this is a movie that will highly appeal to gore hounds, fans of torture porn, Asian film enthusiasts, and most people who enjoy a good organized crime movie. If you fall into those categories I highly recommend this flick.