Ichi the Killer

 1/4

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Paulyn Sun, Susumu Tirajıma, Shun Sugata

The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Strong Perverse Violence/Gore and Sexuality, Language and Drug Content

Whenever I watch a bad movie or one that is intensely disturbing, my parents ask my why I watch such films.  There are a few reasons.  One, some movies are meant to be disturbing and raw.  No one is meant to sit through "Grave of the Fireflies" or "Saving Private Ryan" without feeling intense discomfort and grief.  If such films hit you in the gut, they've done their job.  Two, is curiosity.  I have the same impulse that anyone else does when they see a good trailer or hear solid word of mouth.  Sometimes I'm simply curious about a film.  Occasionally that has led to great rewards; I watched "The Occupant" at a moment's impulse and it turned out to be the best film of 2020.  On the other hand, just as curiosity kills the cat, sometimes it kills the film critic.

Takashi Miike is not a conventional filmmaker.  Never has been.  Probably never will be.  A normal filmmaker probably would have never been able to make a movie like "Audition" or "Like a Dragon."  He is unafraid of turning people off, and while many more cautious filmmakers would tread carefully with taboo subjects, Miike charges ahead.  He fears neither critic nor censor, and does not care who he shocks or offends.  As someone who values artistic freedom, I find that admirable.

The problem is that he's not very talented.  I'm not giving a negative review to "Ichi the Killer" because it is over-the-top in its approach (that comes with the territory for him) or deals with extreme violence and torture (ditto).  I'm giving it a negative review because it's boring.  For all of its excesses, the story is thin and poorly told, the characters are badly defined, and there's an everlasting feeling of sleaze that isn't evident in his other films.  Had I not fallen asleep so soon after the film mercifully ended, I would have taken a long, hot shower to scrub off the stench.

The story isn't so much the problem as the fact that it is poorly implemented.  Kakihara (Asano) is a yakuza whose preference for sadomasochism carries over into how he does his job.  His idea of torturing someone for information sickens his higher ups, and his brashness (Kakihara tortures an innocent man) gets him kicked out of the syndicate.  Meanwhile, a serial killer named Ichi has Kakihara in his sights, which excites Kakihara, who is never satisfied with the pain that others inflict on him.

Perhaps the problem is that Miike was so obsessed with pushing buttons that he forgot about everything else.  And it does push a lot of buttons; the director spares the audience nothing.  We see all kinds of violence and depravity in all of its graphic glory.  "Ichi the Killer" was never intended to be a mainstream movie, and you can tell that Miike wears such a descriptor as a badge of honor.

As boring and disgusting as this film is (and it's both), there are a few elements worth praising.  The film does have a sense of gruesome humor that shows up from time to time.  For example, when someone's throat gets slashed, gallons of blood spray out as the victim flails about in an over-the-top fashion.  In another, a yakuza slips and falls in some flayed intestines like he's in a silent comedy.  Another time, an indebted man gets told to sell his kidneys as a way to pay off what he owes.  These scenes, horrific as they may be, are played in such a way that it provokes a warped grin.  And, while the characters are undeveloped at best, that doesn't mean that they aren't played well.  Tadanobu Asano (who would later on play the interpreter in Martin Scorcese's underrated "Silence") is quite effective as the unhinged Kakihari. It takes guts to play someone as loony as this nutso, and Asano goes full tilt.

I admire the director's fearlessness.  It's hard to completely dismiss a film that is this willing to be outlandish and obscene.  But the fact is that this movie sucks not because it should come with a vomit bag but because it just isn't interesting.  Once the shock value wore off, my struggle to reach the end had less to do with upchucking my dinner and more with staying awake.