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Bookmark this pageIchi the Killer (2001)
Director: Takashi Miike
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
'All events and characters in the film are entirely sick, any resemblance to persons living or dead is a sad coincidence.' As disclaimers go, that's on the nail: Miike's adaptation of Hideo Yamamoto's notorious manga is alarmingly faithful. Which means that these two hours of extreme violence, sadism and masochism are calculated to challenge every censor in the world: no part of the male or female body is left unsliced, and no bodily fluid is left unsplattered. The yakuza Kakihara (Asano, flinching from nothing) mobilises his gang to track down the legendary killer Ichi, suspected murderer of their boss; Kakihara is also searching for a sadist who can torture him with the same love he used to get from the dead man. No one suspects that Ichi (Omori, son of butoh legend Akaji Maro) is a helpless cry-baby who becomes the ultimate killer in a superhero costume only when under hypnosis from the vengeful Jijii (Tsukamoto), whose secret agenda is to stir up a gang-war. Funny, absurd, nightmarishly visceral and - of course - deeply serious.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Dai Miyazaki, Akiko Funatsu, Toshiki Kimura, Elliot Tong, Cho Yuchul
Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sabu, Alien Sun, Susumu Terajima full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 129 mins
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