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Izo (2004)
Director: Takashi Miike
Movie review
From Time Out London
Miike canes it even more than usual and comes spectacularly unstuck. Titular ‘spirit of vengeance’ Izo, in what one presumes is his original, mortal form, gets trussed up Christ-fashion and repeatedly penetrated by swords. Miffed, he jumps through the ages as through so many connecting rooms, slices warriors, gets stabbed by salaryman vampires, pisses on priests, mounts a primal mother figure and displays no human traits beyond a faintly pained expression in the eyes. Miike makes his cast of dozens (decent actors and popular entertainers – ‘Gohatto’ beauty Ryuhei Matsuda, Takeshi Kitano – among them) utter toe-curling twaddle, lobs in found footage, meretricious video textures, shoddy choreography and sitcom sets. If you’re still watching after 40 minutes, you’ve a higher frustration threshold than mine.Author: SC
Time Out London Issue 1784: October 27-November 03, 2004
Cast & crew
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Ryuhei Matsuda, Kazuya Nakayama, 'Beat' Takeshi
Duration: 128 mins
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