Film Details:
Directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, Happiness of the Katakuris, Ichi the Killer)
Written by Sakichi Sato (Ichi the Killer)
Starring
Hideki Sone (Kikoku, Zebraman)
Sho Aikawa (Dead or Alive series, in Japan, he’s the friggin’ Man)
Kimika Yoshino (Unlucky Monkey, Wizard of Darkness I & II)
Sakichi Sato (Known in the states mostly as Charlie Brown from Kill Bill Vol. 1)
Review: by Don
This movie. The only thing I’ve watched in recent memory that was more bizarre than this film was Visitor Q, also directed by Miike. This one gets my vote for the “Most Likely to Make David Lynch Say What the Fuck?” award.
What’s the plot? Good question. Some of it is so astounding I don’t even want to talk about it. I would prefer for you to see it for yourself. Overall though, the plot is about Minami, a low level Yakuza member who gets the order to execute a fellow member and good friend. The friend in question, Ozaki, is quite insane and needs to be taken down. Minami does the deed and is supposed to take the body to a wrecking yard for disposal. Before he can, however, the body vanishes. A mad hunt ensues all over the small town of Nagoya and several interesting and highly disturbing characters come into play. These characters include, but are not limited to, crossdressing coffee shop attendants, a guy with a really bizarre skin condition, and a brother/sister innkeeper duo with more issues than your average magazine rack.
Like many of Miike’s films, this one is filled with insanity at every turn. Some of the imagery is disturbing, some is humorous, some is outright frightening. Some of it is all of these things at once. Gozu, in Japanese, means Cow Head. Miike gives many reasons why the film is called this, but most of them are more than likely bullshit. There is a cow-headed man in this film, though, in case you were wondering. There is also a scene so awesome I can’t even talk about it. Let us just say that the special effects are superb, much better than in Ichi the Killer, which everyone seems to love so much. I will give you a hint about what the scene is though. I will give you a list of movie titles that all have this scene in common. Figure it out if you dare.
Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom
Warlock 2
Xtro
There is one guy on the planet I know would get it instantly.
