Ichi the killer-yes or no?

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Ichi the killer-yes or no?

Postby andre66 » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:23 am

I'm not into gore for the sake of gore but i will watch a movie that contains it if it is a good movie. Does Ichi rate as a good movie or is it just good for shock value. I've rented it and it's coming in the mail but i don't know if i want to watch it.
Any opinions on this movie would be appreciated, i'm really undecided about it.
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Postby Gaijin84 » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:47 pm

It's a pretty good movie, and the gore is not as much as you would expect it to be. I was wondering the same thing when I first rented it, but I think the word of mouth about the blood and violence was much more than the actual content. Don't get me wrong though, it is a very, very violent and twisted movie. There are also a few quirks that could prompt debate about what actually happens at the end, so that's an added bonus. I would definitely watch it, if for nothing else than for the performance of Tadanobu Asano, who in my opinion was brilliant.
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Postby Brian Thibodeau » Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:43 pm

Also keep in mind that the Hong Kong edition of this film is edited to shreds. SIGNIFICANT portions of the violence and gore are toned down or outright missing. From what I've read, many other versions appear to be uncut.

Saw this at a film fest years ago - in uncut form - and was, quite frankly, nauseated by some of the material on display, but afterwards I couldn't exactly convince myself that that WASN'T the point. These are sick characters after all, particularly Asano's (his torture scene with that dude hanging from hooks in his skin was a bit much). The violence is very much necessary to tell this kind of story. And as such, it's a very interesting tale...

As Gaijin84 says, though, your tolerance may be directly related to how much you've heard about the violence beforehand. Me, I had NO IDEA I'd be seeing women's faces beaten to the point of swollen unrecognizability and various people run through slowly and in loving detail with sharp instruments. Plus it was a past-midnight screening, so I was definitely susceptible to squeamishness.
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Postby andre66 » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:47 am

Well it came in the mail today and i just finished watching it. Right off the bat i have to say i liked it, Asano was very believeable in his masochistic role and the actor that played the twins added a certain twisted charisma to his role.

The violence i found the most disturbing were the scenes where the woman was getting beat-up by her pimp/boyfriend. The beatings seemed the most realistic and you know they happen in the world around you. The violence of the other scenes could be put into the context of cinema, scary and gruesome but in the end you know things like a face sliding down the wall is just not going to happen in real life.(hopefully)

So i enjoyed it and will watch other movies made by this director, as i understand it he churns them out.
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Postby Masterofoneinchpunch » Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:11 am

Which version did you get? The uncut (I own the Tokyo Shock uncut version) or cut version.

Miike is an intermittently brilliant auteur. He can be a bit misogynistic for me (the rape scenes are more unpleasant than anything Peckinpah came up with.) But he is a fascinating director and a big influence on directors such as Tarantino. His “Audition” film is on many top horror lists from critics.

I felt the ending was trying to be too mysterious and tricky (I haven’t read the manga) and was annoying (just like Suicide Clubs ending.) However, there are so many great scenes from the Ichi “the crying killer” to Kakihara’s self-mutilation.

The “face sliding down the wall” reminds me of the scene with the nose sliding down the wall in Zatoichi.
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Postby mcmoinsen » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:45 am

Itchy, the killer tried to scatch himself, cause he was allergic to his own mess. Since his working dress had to be extra tight there was only one place of his clothes where he could reach his own skin to find some ease..

This movie is an assembly of gore scenes which are not really put together to one story. The numerous number of side stories underlines that there is no interest in explaining the characters better. This leaves us to miss any kind of emotional connection to the characters, which is a pretty good precondition to accept violence.

Since this is a well-performed movie which never follows the will of the audience, one might only complain about the amount of realistic gore. But then you should inform yourself better before watching Miike stuff.
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Postby bkasten » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:25 am

OK, give it a rest guys. This ain't the place to discuss the specifics of the gore and rape scenes depicted in the film...
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