I have only a passing acquaintance of "manga", and strips like "Appleseed", "Where's Michael" and "Gon" are more my speed than over-the-top gorefests like "Ichi". But I can respect a creator's commitment and devotion to utter lunacy if it is done well.
And if you are going to adapt "Ichi The Killer" from manga to cinema, this seems like a well crafted attempt to take the conventions of the form from one medium to another. Miike doesn't spare the gore, the violence, the misogyny, the black humor, the sexual fetishes or the tricky framing and camera-work, and the results are pretty faithful to what I can recall of the manga version.
Especially interesting for me was that the titular hero of the film was actually more of a supporting plot device for the far more compelling character of "Kakihara". As the good folks at I-mockery pointed out, the actor who plays Kakihara is like the Japanese version of Johnny Depp. He is the most interesting foreign actor I have seen on screen in many years - he just oozes cool and handsomeness, and I suspect he would even without the piercings, scars, costume and blond wig. And the sadomasochistic character he plays gets almost all the best lines. He pretty much carries the film, but fortunately the rest of the cast (including the guy who plays "Ichi") are fine, and integrate nicely into the decadent, violent, nihilistic world that Miike brings to life here.
A couple of problems keep me from rating the film higher than a "7". First of all, the genre itself is, basically, sensationalistic trash, an exercise in style and posing and shock value. As entertaining as it is, the movie exists for no reason other than to push the barrier and see how much the censors will let it get away with. This wasn't a story that needed to be told. 2nd, I thought that even for sensationalist trash, a couple of the scenes were more violent than they needed to be...the rapes and nipple tortures didn't need to be quite so explicit. (Just my personal taste, not advocating censorship or anything)...Miike was already where he needed to be in creating a world of extreme violence, and he didn't 'need' to throw that crap in.
And my biggest problem was that I found the ending frustrating and unsatisfying. I don't insist on a 'happy' ending for my stories, but I do like closure if I can get it. And I still am unclear what Jijii, the man who was manipulating the downfall of the Anjo gang (and the human guided missile Ichi) was supposed to get out of all this...since that does appear to be him hanging from a noose in the last shot of the film. Miike can make the movie he wants, and end it the way he wants (supposedly he is following an Asian cinematic tradition of unclear and unsatisfying endings to stories), but I don't have to like it.
Still that won't keep me from seeking out other films by this director. As I said above, I can admire a devotion to lunacy and nihilism if it is well executed and doesn't hedge its bets.
And if you are going to adapt "Ichi The Killer" from manga to cinema, this seems like a well crafted attempt to take the conventions of the form from one medium to another. Miike doesn't spare the gore, the violence, the misogyny, the black humor, the sexual fetishes or the tricky framing and camera-work, and the results are pretty faithful to what I can recall of the manga version.
Especially interesting for me was that the titular hero of the film was actually more of a supporting plot device for the far more compelling character of "Kakihara". As the good folks at I-mockery pointed out, the actor who plays Kakihara is like the Japanese version of Johnny Depp. He is the most interesting foreign actor I have seen on screen in many years - he just oozes cool and handsomeness, and I suspect he would even without the piercings, scars, costume and blond wig. And the sadomasochistic character he plays gets almost all the best lines. He pretty much carries the film, but fortunately the rest of the cast (including the guy who plays "Ichi") are fine, and integrate nicely into the decadent, violent, nihilistic world that Miike brings to life here.
A couple of problems keep me from rating the film higher than a "7". First of all, the genre itself is, basically, sensationalistic trash, an exercise in style and posing and shock value. As entertaining as it is, the movie exists for no reason other than to push the barrier and see how much the censors will let it get away with. This wasn't a story that needed to be told. 2nd, I thought that even for sensationalist trash, a couple of the scenes were more violent than they needed to be...the rapes and nipple tortures didn't need to be quite so explicit. (Just my personal taste, not advocating censorship or anything)...Miike was already where he needed to be in creating a world of extreme violence, and he didn't 'need' to throw that crap in.
And my biggest problem was that I found the ending frustrating and unsatisfying. I don't insist on a 'happy' ending for my stories, but I do like closure if I can get it. And I still am unclear what Jijii, the man who was manipulating the downfall of the Anjo gang (and the human guided missile Ichi) was supposed to get out of all this...since that does appear to be him hanging from a noose in the last shot of the film. Miike can make the movie he wants, and end it the way he wants (supposedly he is following an Asian cinematic tradition of unclear and unsatisfying endings to stories), but I don't have to like it.
Still that won't keep me from seeking out other films by this director. As I said above, I can admire a devotion to lunacy and nihilism if it is well executed and doesn't hedge its bets.