Shark-skin Man and Peach-hip Girl

First time director Katsuhito Ishii took Minetaro Mochizuki's cult manga about a fashion-conscious hitman on the run from the mob teaming up with a spunky girl on the run from her incestuous uncle, twice storyboarded the film he wanted to make from it, twice shot the storyboards on video as 'conceptual rehearsals' and finally shot the film. Somewhere in the process, he added in lengthy homages to his favourite movies: Twin Peaks, Silence of the Lambs and other neglected titles urgently needing his endorsement. Thanks to his ad agency background, he secured a first rank cast headed by Asano and Kitano movie veteran Terajima. Only one thing was missing: talent.