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I don't
know why I put off watching this movie. It sat, forlorn and forgotten,
on my dining room table for a few weeks. I think it was because,
having already spelunked down into the depths of Takashi Miike's
world via Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q, I was under
the mistaken impression that Gozu would likely be more of
the same and, while enjoyable, likely wouldn't bring anything new.
I was wrong,
really. I admit that now.
In the Gozu
universe, an accomplished Yakuza assassin has begun to act very
oddly, and the boss decides that it would be better if he were disposed
of. A young Yakuza protégé of the assassin is charged
with escorting him to the location. On the way, there is a mishap,
and the assassin disappears. Thus begins the core of the story;
the protégé undergoes a quest to track down the eccentric
assassin, and on the way he bumbles into situations strange, disturbing
and very, very milky.
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Touch
my monkey!
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The overwhelming
opinion is that Gozu is Miike's nod to David Lynch by creating
a surreal world of characters eccentric and demented. The behavior
is twisted in such a way as to bring unease and discomfort mingled
with a case of the giggles. Make no mistake about it, even in the
most violent or vile scenes, there's a laugh to be found. Why is
milk funny? I don't know, it just is. Are exploding prostates funny
(and not the good kind of explosion either)? Yup, oddly enough,
they sure are. Miike seeds a black humor in his movies that entertains
as long as your antennae is twisted enough to receive the signal.
Gozu is a worthy addition to Miike's work, and will please fans
of odd shock cinema in general.
There have been
multiple releases of Gozu overseas, as well as the states, with
varying amounts of extras. However, the
Pathfinder version is well loaded with a commentary by film
critics Andy Klein and Wade Major, a director's interview
with Guillermo del Toro and others (this sounds most interesting),
trailers, a "making of" featurette, a stills gallery,
biographies, and Film Notes by Tom Mes - Author of Agitator:
The Cinema of Takashi Miike.
(Click
Here for DVD's Technical Specs)
TRISTAN
SINNS
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