Director:
Takashi Miike
Starring:
Hideki Sone
Shô Aikawa
Kimika Yoshino
Shôhei Hino
Release: N/A
IMDb
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Gozu
BY: DAVID PERRY
Takashi Miike isn’t known for being restrained, which is part
of why his films are instantly recognizable but certainly unlike anything
else he’s done. Sure, there are elements that reappear between films, like
in-jokes for the truly devoted (considering that he makes as many as 9 films
a year, they must be really devoted), but the incision he makes through the
absurdist worlds he creates has the thrust of a purveyor entering this
wonderland for the first time. While I was ambivalent to Audition, unwilling
to accept its pseudo-artistic posturing, I’ve since found highlights in his
oeuvre, which seem to come in more gratifying packages when purely bizarre.
Gozu might not quite be Dada, but it’s getting there. For those who felts
Cabin Fever was one of the first truly original horror films in years, this
is the Japanese cringe film equivalent. Its absurdist turns couldn’t be more
refreshing because their inspiration seems so intrinsically meaningless.
Though not at David Lynch levels, Miike’s artistry is in his willingness to
do the least thing anyone would expect. Even if Ichi the Killer gets credit
for its pain-inducing moments, its impact was deeply lessened by the
simultaneous revival of Battle Royale, a far more restrained and meaningful
production. But Miike, for better or worse, isn’t quite interested in
recreating that which worked in the Kenji Fukasaku masterpiece in style or
substance.
He’s more intoxicated on what he shouldn’t do, presenting animistic
purgatories in which a dead yakuza disappears only to materialize inside a
woman falling in love with his old partner. The lack of explanation is half
the fun -- like piecing through the myriad schemes Lynch posits in his best
work, Gozu is a mystery tour of one man debased little imagination in which
we are left to reconfigure our own recognition of realty, or perish in his
midst.
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