Post by Quorthon on Jan 16, 2006 13:08:52 GMT -5
Quickshot Collection VIII: The Takashi Miike Collection: Full Metal Yakuza, Happiness of the Katakurris, Visitor Q
Full Metal Yakuza (Full Metal Gokudô)
1997
Not Rated
This quaint little movie is one of the first by infamous Japanese director Takeshi Miike. A director known well in Japan for his work on Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) movies—but well known worldwide for his bizarre and shocking “horror” films. This is one of his unusual combination films. It’s a Yakuza story, with elements of horror, science fiction, Mafia pictures, and Robocop.
The story revolves around one of Japan’s crappiest Yakuza underlings, who, of course, wishes he was more. The head of his, uh, “mafia gang” has taken a liking to him regardless of his grandiose incompetence. Eventually, both are killed, then rebuilt a la Robocop into: “Full Metal Yakuza!” That’s right, they’re rebuilt into one mostly robotic super-Yakuza warrior—that’s primarily the mind and personality of the wimpy warrior. Complete with appetite for nuts-n-bolts dragging around his gigantic penis. Go ahead, reread that sentence. You read right. The new RoboYakuza eats hardware like nuts, bolts, screws, nails, what-have-you for energy. And, he has a huge wang. Well, anyway, he goes around fighting and killing people that were enemies to him and his Yakuza master before they were killed. So it’s a revenge story, too. One with cheesy dialog, rampant violence, amusing characters, and laughably horrible special effects. Movies made for PBS don’t often look this bad! But the film is decently fun to sit through, so long as you like cheesy Yakuza movies, constant violence, and Takeshi Miike. But keep in mind, this has exceedingly low production value, and is cheesier than Wisconsin. 5/10
Happiness of the Katakuris (Katakuri-ke no Kôfuku)
2001
Not Rated
This film is really not what it seems. The cover of the DVD shows a family holding hands running through a field, psychotically happy for whatever reason. Going in, one should clear the mind to a blank slate and just watch the goings-on of the movie. Don’t for a second expect a single thing. Even after reading this review, don’t think about it when you watch the movie. Just sit back and view something so different that only the Japanese could’ve come up with it.
“Happiness of the Katakuris” is about a Japanese family, the Katakurris (what, you thought they’d be “The Johnsons?”), who just purchase a large impressive house in the country in order to turn it into a bed-n-breakfast kind of place. Well, their first four customers (it’s actually more people than that, but the first four paid room rentals is what I mean) all die. But, rather than report it out of fear of bad press and loss of business, they bury them in the country. Sounds like a horror film, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s a hilarious comedy. I mean a musical. Oh hell, it’s both. But one musical number does have dancing corpses. So… it’s a mish-mash of genre bending. Right up until the first death, the movie really doesn’t show any indication of the lunacy the viewer is about to sit through. Then someone dies, and—BANG!—a zany musical number! “Oh my god! He’s dead!! What will we do nooowwwww?!!!” Stuff like that. Dramatic camera angles, dancing, facial expressions—the whole sha-bang. The musical numbers are catchy and the songs are funny. Great characters. One sumo-wrestler related death. Humorous and original through and through. Highly recommended, but you’ve really have to have an open mind for this one. One of Miike’s most fun films, a refreshing change from Yakuza and horror films. 9/10
Visitor Q (Bizita Q)
2001
Not Rated
Visitor Q was the first Takashi Miike film I ever saw. It remains pretty much my favorite film from him. This movie revolves around, basically, a dysfunctional—almost pathetic—Japanese family. The daughter has moved away and became a prostitute—the film opens with her fucking her Dad. The father is a pathetic documentary filmmaker/television investigative reporter completely out of ideas and damn near ruined, and the film opens with him fucking his daughter. The mother is a drug addict, who sells her body to buy drugs. And the Middle-school aged son is violently abusive to his mother, but a gigantic loser in his respective peer group.
Coming home from work one day, the father is hit in the head with a rock by a wild stranger on the street. Then, the stranger moves in with the family. Apparently, it’s Japanese custom to invite your assailant into your home, so long as he attacks you with a rock. This man is “Visitor Q.” His influence in the house changes the behavior of ever person in the family until they become relatively demented, but somehow closer and more loving to each other. The father believes the way back to the top is to do a documentary on just how fucked up he and his family are. Which leads to murder and “sexy” situations. Why’d I put that in quotes? Watch this one, you’ll see.
At any rate, the acting in this one is quite good. The story is different and continually deprave and shocking, never ceasing to amaze the viewer. Of course, when a movie opens with incest, you know it’s got something even weirder up it’s sleeve that’s being saved for later. The cinematography is pretty good, although, the boom mike does make an appearance once or twice. The writing is quite strange, and almost every scene has something in it that opens your eyes, drops your mouth, or makes you wince. Two final words on this one: Necrophilia & Lactating. Only if you love Asian cinema and can stomach the immensely weird. 9/10
Full Metal Yakuza (Full Metal Gokudô)
1997
Not Rated
This quaint little movie is one of the first by infamous Japanese director Takeshi Miike. A director known well in Japan for his work on Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) movies—but well known worldwide for his bizarre and shocking “horror” films. This is one of his unusual combination films. It’s a Yakuza story, with elements of horror, science fiction, Mafia pictures, and Robocop.
The story revolves around one of Japan’s crappiest Yakuza underlings, who, of course, wishes he was more. The head of his, uh, “mafia gang” has taken a liking to him regardless of his grandiose incompetence. Eventually, both are killed, then rebuilt a la Robocop into: “Full Metal Yakuza!” That’s right, they’re rebuilt into one mostly robotic super-Yakuza warrior—that’s primarily the mind and personality of the wimpy warrior. Complete with appetite for nuts-n-bolts dragging around his gigantic penis. Go ahead, reread that sentence. You read right. The new RoboYakuza eats hardware like nuts, bolts, screws, nails, what-have-you for energy. And, he has a huge wang. Well, anyway, he goes around fighting and killing people that were enemies to him and his Yakuza master before they were killed. So it’s a revenge story, too. One with cheesy dialog, rampant violence, amusing characters, and laughably horrible special effects. Movies made for PBS don’t often look this bad! But the film is decently fun to sit through, so long as you like cheesy Yakuza movies, constant violence, and Takeshi Miike. But keep in mind, this has exceedingly low production value, and is cheesier than Wisconsin. 5/10
Happiness of the Katakuris (Katakuri-ke no Kôfuku)
2001
Not Rated
This film is really not what it seems. The cover of the DVD shows a family holding hands running through a field, psychotically happy for whatever reason. Going in, one should clear the mind to a blank slate and just watch the goings-on of the movie. Don’t for a second expect a single thing. Even after reading this review, don’t think about it when you watch the movie. Just sit back and view something so different that only the Japanese could’ve come up with it.
“Happiness of the Katakuris” is about a Japanese family, the Katakurris (what, you thought they’d be “The Johnsons?”), who just purchase a large impressive house in the country in order to turn it into a bed-n-breakfast kind of place. Well, their first four customers (it’s actually more people than that, but the first four paid room rentals is what I mean) all die. But, rather than report it out of fear of bad press and loss of business, they bury them in the country. Sounds like a horror film, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s a hilarious comedy. I mean a musical. Oh hell, it’s both. But one musical number does have dancing corpses. So… it’s a mish-mash of genre bending. Right up until the first death, the movie really doesn’t show any indication of the lunacy the viewer is about to sit through. Then someone dies, and—BANG!—a zany musical number! “Oh my god! He’s dead!! What will we do nooowwwww?!!!” Stuff like that. Dramatic camera angles, dancing, facial expressions—the whole sha-bang. The musical numbers are catchy and the songs are funny. Great characters. One sumo-wrestler related death. Humorous and original through and through. Highly recommended, but you’ve really have to have an open mind for this one. One of Miike’s most fun films, a refreshing change from Yakuza and horror films. 9/10
Visitor Q (Bizita Q)
2001
Not Rated
Visitor Q was the first Takashi Miike film I ever saw. It remains pretty much my favorite film from him. This movie revolves around, basically, a dysfunctional—almost pathetic—Japanese family. The daughter has moved away and became a prostitute—the film opens with her fucking her Dad. The father is a pathetic documentary filmmaker/television investigative reporter completely out of ideas and damn near ruined, and the film opens with him fucking his daughter. The mother is a drug addict, who sells her body to buy drugs. And the Middle-school aged son is violently abusive to his mother, but a gigantic loser in his respective peer group.
Coming home from work one day, the father is hit in the head with a rock by a wild stranger on the street. Then, the stranger moves in with the family. Apparently, it’s Japanese custom to invite your assailant into your home, so long as he attacks you with a rock. This man is “Visitor Q.” His influence in the house changes the behavior of ever person in the family until they become relatively demented, but somehow closer and more loving to each other. The father believes the way back to the top is to do a documentary on just how fucked up he and his family are. Which leads to murder and “sexy” situations. Why’d I put that in quotes? Watch this one, you’ll see.
At any rate, the acting in this one is quite good. The story is different and continually deprave and shocking, never ceasing to amaze the viewer. Of course, when a movie opens with incest, you know it’s got something even weirder up it’s sleeve that’s being saved for later. The cinematography is pretty good, although, the boom mike does make an appearance once or twice. The writing is quite strange, and almost every scene has something in it that opens your eyes, drops your mouth, or makes you wince. Two final words on this one: Necrophilia & Lactating. Only if you love Asian cinema and can stomach the immensely weird. 9/10
