Koroshiya 1 (2001)

Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film heartthrob Tadanobu Asano), a masochistic yakuza lieutenant, has slits in his cheeks through which he blows cigarette smoke and gleefully hacks off his own tongue to apologize for his impudence. Then there's eponymous assassin (Nao Omori), a painfully shy but sadistic young voyeur who wears a leather superhero outfit to work. ...
Read more

Manipulated by the cagey and mysterious Jijii (English translation: "Gramps," Shinya Tsukamoto), Ichi lashes out and massacres those Jijii deems bullies, and basically anyone else who upsets his frail psyche. Jijii uses the demented lad to start a bloody war between rival yakuza factions. Miike's film is full of grotesquely over-the-top violent set pieces, including flying entrails, graphic mutilations, and even a severed human face splattered against a wall and slowly sliding to the ground. It's all captured with kinetic camerawork and hyperactive editing. It's not for everyone, but bolder viewers will find it uniquely entertaining.
Read less..

Set jinni.com as default synopis Visit jinni.com

Maverick auteur Takashi Miike spins this unsettling, blood-soaked yakuza yarn adapted from Hideo Yamamoto's cult manga Koroshiya 1. When mob don Anjo mysteriously disappears, his protégé Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) vows to find the people responsible. Sporting a blond head of hair and a yawning, pierced slash for a mouth, Kakihara is no ordinary gangster and his methods are equally unorthodox; he impales one poor suspect's naked body on a series of meat hooks and then dumps hot oil on him. Meanwhile, a shadowy character known as Jijii (played by director Shinya Tsukamoto) deftly manipulates, for his own nefarious...
Read more

ends, Ichi (Nao Omori), an unbalanced but ruthless killing machine clad in a superhero suit. Pining for the sadistic abuse of his boss, Kakihara learns of Ichi from a Hong Kong hostess (Alien Sun) and sets out to find this fabled butcher, hoping he can inflict the pain that Kakihara craves. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival as a part of the Midnight Madness program.
Read less..

Set AllMovie.com as default synopis Visit AM

Wanneer een belangrijke gangsterbaas wordt vermoord, krijgt diens sadistische rechterhand Kakihara opdracht de dader op te sporen. Door getuigen aan vreselijke martelingen te onderwerpen, ontdekt Kakihara dat zijn baas werd vermoord door Ichi, een geheimzinnige jongeman die zijn tegenstanders met vlijmscherpe messen in zijn laarzen aan reepjes snijdt. Wie is Ichi? En waarom heeft hij het gemunt op gangsters? Maar voordat Kakihara deze vragen kan beantwoorden, heeft Ichi alweer een nieuwe prooi gevonden...

Set MovieMeter.nl as default synopis Visit MM

Maverick auteur Takashi Miike spins this unsettling, blood-soaked yakuza yarn adapted from Hideo Yamamoto's cult manga Koroshiya 1. When mob don Anjo mysteriously disappears, his protégé Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano) vows to find the people responsible. Sporting a blond head of hair and a yawning, pierced slash for a mouth, Kakihara is no ordinary gangster and his methods are equally unorthodox; he impales one poor suspect's naked body on a series of meat hooks and then dumps hot oil on him. Meanwhile, a shadowy character known as Jijii (played by director Shinya Tsukamoto) deftly manipulates, for his own nefarious...
Read more

ends, Ichi (Nao Omori), an unbalanced but ruthless killing machine clad in a superhero suit. Pining for the sadistic abuse of his boss, Kakihara learns of Ichi from a Hong Kong hostess (Alien Sun) and sets out to find this fabled butcher, hoping he can inflict the pain that Kakihara craves. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival as a part of the Midnight Madness program.~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Read less..

Set MRQE.com as default synopis Visit MRQE.com