Gozu is a 2003 cult movie directed by Takashi Miike. Shot on a low budget, Gozu was originally planned for release on DVD but a positive reception at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2003 secured its theatrical release overseas.
Gozu has a reputation for being one of the strangest films ever made, with its ensemble of weird characters and dreamlike storyline. Read more…
Visitor Q is a controversial 2001 film directed by cult Japanese director Takashi Miike. It was filmed as the sixth and final part of the Love Cinema series consisting of six straight-to-video releases by independent filmmakers via a brief but exclusive run at the minuscule Shimokitazawa cinema in Tokyo. The six films were conceived as low budget exercises to explore the benefits afforded by the low-cost Digital Video medium such as the increased mobility of film and the low-lighting conditions available to the filmmakers. Read more…
Sukiyaki Western Django is a 2007 Japanese film by Takashi Miike. The title of this English language western refers to the Japanese dish, sukiyaki, as well as Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti western film, Django.
Two clans, the white Genji clan led by yoshitsune, and the red Heike clan led by Kiyomori, battle for a legendary treasure in a desolate mountain town. One day, a lone gunman drifts into town. Two clans try to woo the gunman to their side, but he has ulterior motives. Read more…
Ichi the Killer is a 2001 Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike, based on Hideo Yamamoto’s manga series of the same name.
The film stars Tadanobu Asano as Kakihara, a sadomasochist yakuza enforcer who enjoys giving and receiving pain in about equal measures. Kakihara’s boss Anjo is murdered in a particularly gruesome fashion and a mysterious group arrives to clean up all evidence of the murder, stealing 300 million yen Anjo had in his room while there. Read more…
Takashi Miike (born August 24, 1960) is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. Born in Yao, Osaka, Japan, Miike graduated from Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film (despite claiming to have attended classes only rarely). He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions. Read more…
Audition is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike and starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina. It is based on a Ryu Murakami novel of the same title.
Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a middle-aged widower who lost his wife to an illness seven years prior, is urged by his 17-year-old son, Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki), to begin dating women again. Shigehiko is somewhat doubtful of his father’s love life, but plans to move out when he finishes school and does not want his father to be alone. Aoyama’s friend and colleague, Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura), a film producer, devises a plan to hold a mock-audition, in which young, beautiful women would audition for the “part” of Aoyama’s new wife, under the impression that they are auditioning for a new film, but actually so Aoyama can marry one of the finalist contestants. Read more…
One Missed Call (Chakushin ari) is a 2004 J-Horror movie directed by Takashi Miike.
During an evening get-together with friends, Yoko Murasaki’s cell phone suddenly rings in an unusual tone. Not recognizing the tone, Yoko doesn’t pick up soon enough and the call goes into “voice mail” (chakushin). When she sees that the call/message was from her own phone number and dated two days into the future both she and her friend Nakamura Yumi listen intently to the message. What they hear is the voice of Yoko in casual chit-chat, followed by a horrendous scream, and then dead silence. Read more…