Miike is probably one of only a dozen directors to make 6-8 movies a year. Yet he is the only one to keep not only a consistent quality at this rate, but also to keep surprising his fans. "Gozu" is a case in point.
A yakuza meeting turns ugly when Ozaki, in a paranoid moment, paints a window red with a chihuahua. The boss puts Ozaki's understudy Minami in charge of taking care of him and sends both of them away.
The tongue in cheek yakuza plot provides only the starting point. From there on, it's a cast of characters that would put to shame any freak show and/or dada event. Just as "Ichi the Killer" is a movie about gangster violence taken to its extreme (yakuza are ultimately masochist), so is this one about gangster loyalty taken to its latent homosexual conclusion. However, one could just as easily read it as a study of a character, lost in the effort of coping with the absurd situations that stand in for the jumble of his own emotions and motivations. Minami spends a lot of time riding around Nagoya in his Mustang convertible. As I watched him, I felt in a somewhat similar situation: sometimes riding along Miike, sometimes being taken for a ride, but ultimately just following the trip for the sheer fun of turning, stopping, accelerating, passing, reversing, having a flat tire...
Miike proves not only that he's one of the most innovative and productive directors of all time, but also that unlike critics everywhere, he can take himself not seriously - watch out for quotes and references to some of his earlier classics (Visitor Q, Dead or Alive.) And don't worry, the ending is sure to surprise you, even if you are a seasoned fan. If this is your first Miike movie, watch any other one mentioned in this review first, then come back to this one.
A yakuza meeting turns ugly when Ozaki, in a paranoid moment, paints a window red with a chihuahua. The boss puts Ozaki's understudy Minami in charge of taking care of him and sends both of them away.
The tongue in cheek yakuza plot provides only the starting point. From there on, it's a cast of characters that would put to shame any freak show and/or dada event. Just as "Ichi the Killer" is a movie about gangster violence taken to its extreme (yakuza are ultimately masochist), so is this one about gangster loyalty taken to its latent homosexual conclusion. However, one could just as easily read it as a study of a character, lost in the effort of coping with the absurd situations that stand in for the jumble of his own emotions and motivations. Minami spends a lot of time riding around Nagoya in his Mustang convertible. As I watched him, I felt in a somewhat similar situation: sometimes riding along Miike, sometimes being taken for a ride, but ultimately just following the trip for the sheer fun of turning, stopping, accelerating, passing, reversing, having a flat tire...
Miike proves not only that he's one of the most innovative and productive directors of all time, but also that unlike critics everywhere, he can take himself not seriously - watch out for quotes and references to some of his earlier classics (Visitor Q, Dead or Alive.) And don't worry, the ending is sure to surprise you, even if you are a seasoned fan. If this is your first Miike movie, watch any other one mentioned in this review first, then come back to this one.