Takeshi Miike

[Brian Olewnick]

I've had several Miike films on my Netflix queue for a long time but then my wife up and surprised me by ordering "The Bird People in China" (I think on the mistaken assumption that Gong Li was in it!!!). I understand it's hardly typical of his work, but I absolutely loved it. Looking forward to more.

[Chromosome]

I've had several Miike films on my Netflix queue for a long time but then my wife up and surprised me by ordering "The Bird People in China" (I think on the mistaken assumption that Gong Li was in it!!!). I understand it's hardly typical of his work, but I absolutely loved it. Looking forward to more.

That's the only Miike film I've seen also. I loved it too from the opening scene.

[Erik Lund]

Brian, have we talked about Gong Li together?

[jon abbey]

try to stay on topic on this site, Lund.

[letchhausen]

I love Miike, I own probably 40 of his movies. My favorites are

1. City Of Lost Souls - a tale of a very violent man and his attempt to get out of town with his girl. The yakuza ping pong challenge is excellent. Great story that is pure Miike but not so fucked.
2. Ichii the Killer - Sex...and violence and of course the wacky humour that pervades his movies. Disturbing violence to me.
3. D.O.A. 2 - the trilogy is uneven but worth watching. Miike's deconstructivist tendencies can sometimes overwhelm the very real pathos that pervade his movies.
4. MPD Psycho - Brilliant, amazing, hilarious TV series about a police detective with Multiple Personality Disorder. This series really explores the serial killer, psychic and "new generation" themes to whole new heights. The song that is the focal point of possession is a truly haunting "70's type" song......
5. The Black Society Trilogy - Another uneven set of movies with some hilarious, violent and surreal moments....of course.....I like when he plays with the languages, Japanese, Chinese and dialects.....very funny....
6. Audition - ugh, very disturbing.....it takes awhile to get that woman's voice making those sounds as she's working the needles out of your head.....
7. Gozu - Miike's tribute to David Lynch.......

And yes, I think Kurosawa's an excellent director, I own both Kairo and Cure and liked Doppelganger but didn't like Seance so much...he does create a very oppressive atmosphere....and I really like his pacing....

Also, Tsukamoto for both the Tetsuo movies and A Snake of June and Vital........

[tabby]

miike said he was influenced by david lynch for Gozu. i think that's his best. Izo is pretty good, but extremely violent... it kinda gets tiring after a while. he has a new one called Puzzle of God that looks pretty funny. as for visitor Q, i probably wouldn't watch it again... unless i was trying to vomit.

[jpeatt]

as for visitor Q, i probably wouldn't watch it again... unless i was trying to vomit.

I know I said it earlier in the thread, but I really, really like this film. It's almost as if he's sat down and wrote a list of taboos in Japanese society and then set out to make a movie that breaks them all, but, when it boils down to it, delivers a positive moral and a happy ending. Astonishing.

He has another new one coming out which is apparently a tribute to ultraviolent western 'Django'. Anyone seen this yet?

[letchhausen]

as for visitor Q, i probably wouldn't watch it again... unless i was trying to vomit.

I know I said it earlier in the thread, but I really, really like this film. It's almost as if he's sat down and wrote a list of taboos in Japanese society and then set out to make a movie that breaks them all, but, when it boils down to it, delivers a positive moral and a happy ending. Astonishing.

He has another new one coming out which is apparently a tribute to ultraviolent western 'Django'. Anyone seen this yet?

Yeah, I saw here at the Seattle Film Festival. It was pretty good but could of been better. It got too involved in it's own jokes. It was entertaining but could of been a lot more.......

[Brian Olewnick]

Just watched this (Sukiyaki Western Django). Bizarro mesh of samurai and western film traditions, wildly entertaining if, almost necessarily, light on substance; Robert Rodriguez-ish, in that sense. Plenty of faces I hope to encounter again.

[apfEID]

Yep, I saw pretty much all all his stuff. I think it's a bit like Dead or Alive : take away the "shocking" bits, and you're left with a looonnnggg nothingness.

I felt this way about Dead Or Alive the first time I saw it, but then I ended up seeing it theatrically twice and on dvd again, and I remember realizing how solid the quieter parts of the film are as well. It's as if the shocking parts make it hard to absorb the rest, but once the shock is gone...

I can remember that there was something specifically about Dead or Alive that I really liked, (other than the absurd opening and ending), but it has been years since I last saw it and can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps I'll give it another spin sometime soon.

[sound plague]

as for visitor Q, i probably wouldn't watch it again... unless i was trying to vomit.

I know I said it earlier in the thread, but I really, really like this film. It's almost as if he's sat down and wrote a list of taboos in Japanese society and then set out to make a movie that breaks them all, but, when it boils down to it, delivers a positive moral and a happy ending. Astonishing.

He has another new one coming out which is apparently a tribute to ultraviolent western 'Django'. Anyone seen this yet?

Yeah, I saw here at the Seattle Film Festival. It was pretty good but could of been better. It got too involved in it's own jokes. It was entertaining but could of been a lot more.......

I've only seen about 20 of his films but Visitor Q is my personal favourite.

[apfEID]

I went to the Japan Society today for their "From Gore to Westerns: An Incisive Afternoon with Director Takashi Miike"

It was a lot of fun, Miike is very charming and I was surprised by the insightful questions from the audience, though much of the nuance of these questions was lost in the translation, I think, or he dodged a couple of the more interesting ones, in particular the question about why violence in his films is so often closely tied to male sexual anxiety.

I just opened up a new queue on Netflix and filled it with 39 Miike films they have that I haven't seen yet and two I haven't seen in years, and plan on watching them one at a time until I'm sick of them.

I got to meet Miike briefly during the reception and handed him a cd-r I released recently. The idea of Miike listening to my harsh noise has tickled me a couple times since and I'm not sure why I find it so amusing, but I do.