Takashi Miike

[The Mollusk]

He is one of the greats, right? I mean, he's made over 100 films across the last 3 decades. Granted, a decent percentage of those are probably less-than-great, but I think he's a true cinematic visionary who's not afraid to try his hand at different styles, and in many of those styles he has succeeded at least once. In some styles, he has succeeded time and time again.

You've got to wonder exactly how many good films it's possible for one man to make which have a strong Yakuza involvement in the story, and yet... Rainy Dog, Gozu, Dead or Alive Trilogy and Blues Harp are just a few fantastic films that spring to mind. Most of these Yakuza films also have strong underlying themes of family, brotherly love, coursing through them. This is especially true of the magnificent Dead of Alive 2, and also Gozu, although with the latter it's far more abstract.

He's infamous for his more controversial or extreme work like Ichi the Killer and Audition but there's heart, soul, and a glorious spectrum of imagination that makes Miike's work so iconic. Behind its grainy camcorder-shot scenes of familial violence, incest and necrophilia, Visitor Q is a touching story about an estranged family learning to love one another again. The Happiness of the Katakuris speaks for itself as a delightfully absurd zombie horror musical. The Bird People in China is a surrealist dramedy focusing on first/third-world relations basic human empathy, and is possibly one of my favourite Japanese films. It's beautiful, and in my opinion a key example of Miike's versatility.

Anyway, the inspiration for starting this thread was watching 2019's First Love, his 103rd film, last night. I've not seen any Miike films this side of the year 2004 and I wasn't sure exactly how good this one, yet another bloody Yakuza story, would be. I was dubious at first, at it's certainly less abstract than his other work and the story was very clearly presented from the offset, but as it went on I found it thoroughly engaging with a solid cast that made the story feel fresh and exciting. The events that take place come to a bloody and very entertaining climax, and it's also funny as fuck at times. Kase is an absolutely batshit character and the toy dog scene made me laugh hard. It was a solid 7.5/10 for me.

As a quick closer I'd just like to invite you to marvel with me that between 1995 and 2001, Miike made 31 films, and among them are some of his best works:

Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)
Rainy Dog (1997)
The Bird People in China (1998)
Blues Harp (1998)
Ley Lines (1999)
Audition (1999)
Dead or Alive (1999)
Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000)
Visitor Q (2001)
Ichi the Killer (2001)
The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

[madhair60]

Just saying Mike, like Michael, but elongating the beginning ever so slightly, Takashi Miike. Literally always funny.

[BlodwynPig]

I hoovered him up until about 2004 too and then he just disappeared off my radar like a Haruki Murakami character. Never thought about him or his films again! Odd, very odd

[The Mollusk]

Thinking about him now though aren't you

AREN'T YOU

[Puce Moment]

Which is the film with the pair of office blokes in suits with briefcases who keep turning up in scenes for no reason? I loved it but that was easily the most walk-outs I have seen at a film festival.

[BlodwynPig]

Thinking about him now though aren't you

AREN'T YOU

Yes. The beauty of CAb

[lebowskibukowski]

Loved The Happiness Of The Katakuris and Visitor Q, but watched the latter for the first time when I had just recently moved into a house share, and it's not the greatest film for people to see you watching in the front room when you have only just met them...

[phes]

One more vote for The Bird People in China. Fantastic, beautiful stuff.

I watched several of this guy's films then he fell off my radar also, so another thanks for the reminder. I loved happiness of and bird people, so any suggestions along those lines... think I might have hit on a couple of the organised crime and violence ones and got bored

[The Mollusk]

I'm inclined to recommend Zebraman if you want something more fun and good-hearted from Miike. It doesn't have a good rating online and it's been years since I saw it but I do recall it being good. Similar to Katakuris, it's a way for him to get wild with his imagination in a lighter (i.e. more comedic) setting.

I feel like it probably gets a low scoring online because it looks somewhat cheap and is shamelessly goofy, but if you're no stranger to this style from him, as well as the overtly naff CGI you get in a lot of his films, then you'll probably enjoy it.

I've also heard that his adaptation of the Ace Attorney franchise is really good, with some critics saying it was a brilliant example of a game-to-movie done well.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I saw Zebraman and it's sequel for the first time last year and enjoyed both a great deal, the second film is far sillier and stranger but it's just as fun, and I'd definitely recommend both.

Otherwise I've only seen The Happiness of the Katakuris, Audition, Gozu and Ichi The Killer, which is strange as I really enjoy his work so have no idea why I haven't seen more of it.

[BlodwynPig]

I saw Zebraman and it's sequel for the first time last year and enjoyed both a great deal, the second film is far sillier and stranger but it's just as fun, and I'd definitely recommend both.

Otherwise I've only seen The Happiness of the Katakuris, Audition, Gozu and Ichi The Killer, which is strange as I really enjoy his work so have no idea why I haven't seen more of it.

Miike singularity strikes again! Its like we all disappeared between 2004-2010. Indeed, i did!

[The Mollusk]

Gozu is one that I've seen twice, but again it's been years, and I remember it being among the strangest of his films, not least of all because of how fucking slow-paced it is. I recall it being quite Lynchian in that it draws things out massively but that only serves to exacerbate the weird/creepy bits into proper head-fuck territory. The bit at the very start when Show Aikawa obliterates the chihuahua out the front of the shop is hilarious.

Aikawa is a fantastic mainstay of Miike's films. I really strongly recommend Dead or Alive 2: Birds to anyone who's not seen it. It's not connected in any way to the first or third DoA films (except that the two lead actors are in all three), and it's a really touching character drama underneath the typical Yakuza violence. Maybe my favourite thing I've seen Aikawa in.

[Osmium]

He has been more miss than hit since the early 00s but their is still a lot good stuff in there. The remakes of 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri, the two Crows films, Over Your Dead Body, Blade of the Immortal among them. Just make sure to stay away from Terraformers, I didn't think he had it in him to make a film worse than Silver but he did. Also his TV series MPD Psycho from 2000 is nuts and up there with his film output of the time.

[BlodwynPig]

Gozu is one that I've seen twice, but again it's been years, and I remember it being among the strangest of his films, not least of all because of how fucking slow-paced it is. I recall it being quite Lynchian in that it draws things out massively but that only serves to exacerbate the weird/creepy bits into proper head-fuck territory. The bit at the very start when Show Aikawa obliterates the chihuahua out the front of the shop is hilarious.

Aikawa is a fantastic mainstay of Miike's films. I really strongly recommend Dead or Alive 2: Birds to anyone who's not seen it. It's not connected in any way to the first or third DoA films (except that the two lead actors are in all three), and it's a really touching character drama underneath the typical Yakuza violence. Maybe my favourite thing I've seen Aikawa in.

Thanks for the recommends.

[Sin Agog]

Super curious to see his take on the Ace Attorney games.  Can't not be at least a little bit fun.

Agree about Bird People probably being his best. Got The Great Yokai War lined up.  A Sunday afternoon Miike fantasy film.  He pulled something similar off with Zebra Man, so it should at least be watchable.

[The Mollusk]

Really glad to see Bird People getting its dues here. Something about the way it looks and feels makes it such a definite Miike film, but it would absolutely be top of the list if I were to ever show someone a film of his if they have preconceived notions of him being an out-and-out extreme filmmaker. There's very little violence in the whole thing, and the way the tone gradually slips from zany adventure-comedy to moving ecological drama is magnificent.

[shagatha crustie]

I've only seen Audition (which I loved - a great film with something to say, which is overlooked sometimes because of all the OMG MOST DISTURBING FILM EVER!) and Visitor Q, which I did not like at all and made me feel quite physically ill, but maybe I wasn't in the mood for it.

Thanks for the further recs, should get round to watching some more.

[Glebe]

I just watched Audition again recently, well unsettling... it's one of only two of his films I've seen (the other being Zatoichi).

[Shit Good Nose]

I like his yakuza and samurai films (his Graveyard of Honour remake and Blade of the Immortal are both brill), but I completely lose interest when it comes to his comedies and whacky horrors.  In the case of the former it may just be a case of it not traveling too well for me, although I do remember quite liking Ichi the Killer, but I've not seen it since it came out and remember very very little about it.

Audition COMPLETELY went over my head - I didn't see and still don't see in it what everyone else does.  And, similarly, stuff like Gozu and Visitor Q are a lot of something and nothing just leading to one "shocking" scene, which gets a bit tiresome after you've seen a few of them.  But he's so prolific it's a wonder there isn't a lot more chaff in there, cos he churns them out like the Uwe Bolls and Charles Bands of this world.

[Sin Agog]

Blade of the Immortal is my fave samurai thing he's done.  I remember reading the manga back when it was coming out, and I don't think it much resembles that, but as a sort of follow-up to Sword of Doom it works really well- of course upping the body count to almost surreal levels, especially in that beginning sequence before he gains his immortality.  He can actually be relatively sober when he wants, but there are plenty o' cinematic teetotallers making movies out there so I'm glad he sometimes goes a bit cray, even if things like Visitor Q will never gain entry to my alley.  I have a bouncer at the entrance banning all necrophiles.

[Shit Good Nose]

(the other being Zatoichi).

Are you getting him confused with Takeshi Kitano (who did a Zatoichi film in 2003), or have you actually seen Miike's Zatoichi (which was a live stage show put out on video)?  I ask cos I've always wondered what Miike's take on it would be like and how it would work on stage, but I don't think it's been released outside of Japan.

[Glebe]

Are you getting him confused with Takeshi Kitano (who did a Zatoichi film in 2003), or have you actually seen Miike's Zatoichi (which was a live stage show put out on video)?  I ask cos I've always wondered what Miike's take on it would be like and how it would work on stage, but I don't think it's been released outside of Japan.

Oh fuck you're right yeah, duh. I was going through his CV on Wiki cos I wasn't sure which of his other films I'd seen.

[13 schoolyards]

Can't believe there hasn't been more love for his 13 Assassins remake. It's not really of a piece with his 90s and early 00s films and it's probably one of his more restrained films as far as imagery goes (apart from one shock reveal), but a brilliant samurai film with an amazing final battle.

TOTAL MASSACRE

[El Unicornio, mang]

I just watched Audition again recently, well unsettling... it's one of only two of his films I've seen (the other being Zatoichi).

One of the scariest horrors I've seen, although it's disappointing that the cover/poster for it gives the game away. The impact of it would be so much more going in cold, thinking it's a gentle quirky rom-com until the phone call/bag scene turns it on its head.

[The Mollusk]

I just watched Ace Attorney. I know nothing about the video game series, but I did a smidgen of research beforehand and deduced that they are mysteries with plot twists and turns designed to be gripping in an intentionally OTT fashion, often jackknifing one way and the other in the courtroom with plenty of OBJECTIONs. They are also absurdist with a great sense of humour and very vibrant characters.

So, with this in mind (and gauging from the reviews which say that it's one of the finer game-to-movie adaptations out there) I think Miike pretty much nailed it. The film is 2h14m long, though, and could have been cut back by 30 mins at least. Consequently, there's a bit of a lull before the third act, but it really picks back up at the end. At times it is really funny, but this never distracts too much from the seriousness of the plot, the tension of which mounts very nicely as more details are revealed. A crime thriller that is both convoluted yet compelling due to its overly dramatic presentation, and having just read the wiki, the events appear to mirror (a large portion of) those in the first game in the series faithfully. I enjoyed it a lot.

I've got 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal lined up for later in the week too. I know I've been asking for lovely cuddly telly to watch in Picture Box but my friend is staying over for about a week as he's broken up with his partner and needs to get out of their house for a bit, so now's as good a time as ever for us to dig into this stuff.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Agree about Bird People probably being his best. Got The Great Yokai War lined up.  A Sunday afternoon Miike fantasy film.  He pulled something similar off with Zebra Man, so it should at least be watchable.

I watched The Great Yokai War this evening thanks to this thread and loved it, it's a big crazy fantasy flick with a really fun selection of supporting characters, the first half is sort of your standard fantasy quest thing but then the second just goes insane and is a delightfully daft and beautifully inventive and imaginative affair. 8.1/10

[popcorn]

Struggle to think of a cinema experience I enjoyed less than The Happiness of the Katakuris.

[DrGreggles]

Struggle to think of a cinema experience I enjoyed less than The Happiness of the Katakuris.

I've lost count of the number of people I've implored to watch that*.
"You'll never have seen anything like it before!" is my sales pitch and, regardless of whether they liked it or not, they've had to admit that much.

Of course, my initial reaction to seeing it for the first time was complete confusion - believing it to be another dark horror film. To say I was thrown when the first song started would be an understatement!


*and the number of times I've bought it, due to lending out my copy

[popcorn]

I've lost count of the number of people I've implored to watch that

I saw it in a cinema almost 20 years ago, and at some point described how much I'd hated it to a friend. Years later my friend was wandering around NYC bored one afternoon and saw it was playing and had some confused memory of me talking about it with enthusiasm so decided to buy a ticket. He also had a terrible time and sent me a message afterwards like "I saw that movie I remember you talking about with so much energy..."

it's the one thing I didn't want to happen

[Spiteface]

Bumping this, because Tsuburaya uploaded one of Miike's episodes of Ultraman Max to YouTube, with English subtitles:

https://youtu.be/bBeZi4h5F1E

In case you ever wanted to see him direct kaiju/Tokusatsu stuff.