displayed in the scene just after the Anjo group is kicked out of the syndicate amaze me, displaying a shot over Kakihara's right hand mans shoulder leaves me astounded, literally. Please, if you come across this movie, i beg you to see it; you certainly will not regret it.Ichi The Killer rocks. 10/10

watching it and it had none of the tendencies of a traditional horror film. The only thing that kept me from giving it 10 stars is the ending, which is a bit abstract, but I'm sure it was intended that way. But I would recommend this film to anyone, cause it's something everyone should experience. The only movie I could compare this to would be Dead Alive, and that is a very loose comparison. Just do yourself a favor and watch it.

boss and is now after him. Kakihara then sets out for revenge and vindication in the name of Anjo.Ichi, on the other hand, seems to be a more simple kind of guy who works for an ex-cop who loves to wreak havoc on the Yakuza. Ichi's work is thought to be that of a brutally insane and blood thirsty maniac. But, upon meeting him, one can't help but notice his peculiar innocence and naiveté. However, it is this very feature that makes him so deadly.When these two forces collide, it's endless violence, torture, rape, murder, blood, gore, and underworld danger and depravity. Ichi the Killer is a movie that directors like Quentin Tarantino only dream of making. If films were people, his Kill Bills would only watch and drool at Ichi the Killer!

as Ichi and Kakihara.Highly recommended,especially if you have strong stomach.9 out of 10.

someone get their throat cut, only to have a literal torrent of blood spray out of the wound all over everything? How about a guy who cuts off the tip of his tongue as an apology to his bosses, rather than the traditional tip of the finger? How about a guy who gets cut in half lengthwise by a concealed boot blade, only to split in half and fall to the floor in two? One of the main reasons to watch this film is for Kakihara, the character played by Tadanobu Asano. A bleached blond sadomasochist, this guy easily ranks up there with any other anti-hero you can think of. Think of him as a garishly dressed metro sexual with a penchant for needles and you'll come close to what he looks and acts like.Describing the story isn't quite so simple but multiple viewings provide more insight each time into the labyrinthine plot. Kakihara is a Yakuza lieutenant on the hunt for his missing boss, who had disappeared with 300 million yen. His reasoning for finding him has nothing to do with the money but because of the fact that his boss was the one person who knew how to dish out pain the way he liked. Soon, Kakihara discovers that his boss has been murdered and begins the search for the man who butchered his boss. He discovers that the man responsible is an enigmatic figure named Ichi, a wild tornado of violence who holds the promise of giving Kakihara what he so desires: the ultimate experience in painful death.Sounds messed up? Well, let me assure you, that it is. And I haven't even begun to describe Kakihara's methods in finding Boss Anjo. If at this point, I've gotten your interests piqued, I'll leave it for you to experience.It's a yakuza movie of sorts but it really plays out as a kind of rhetoric on desire and our willingness to fulfill them or have them fulfilled. The film can also be viewed as just a straight up gore fest and it works on that level also. There is great use of physical and computer assisted effects. Also, the music by Karera Musication deserves mention as probably the most original film score I've ever heard in any movie, period.If you want to see something daring, disturbing and groundbreaking, I strongly recommend this film for those that can handle the intense scenes of violence. Just make sure you find the unrated director's cut for the film and avoid it on cable, which shows the R-rated version. See it the way it was meant to be seen, as with every other film.RATING: ****1/2 out of *****.

to kill all the "bullies" of the world in order to ignite gang violence. It involves a lot of gore and a crazy sadomasochist with a torn-up face who delights in feeling hunted by Ichi. Various characters all struggle to define their loyalties to violence which leads up to this absolutely stunning ending which frankly could never have originated in American cinema.It's also quite visually appealing, both artistically and with gore. It's an amazing film that anyone with a strong stomach should take the time to hunt down and see.--PolarisDiB

going missing with a huge stash of cash, his gang members investigate and a classic game of cat and mouse is involved. This seems simple enough but what is out of the ordinary is that the leader of the investigation, Kakihara Tadanobu Asano , is a major masochist and Anjo's killer, Ichi Nao Omori is the ultimate sadist with a tormented soul. This is where Ichi the Killer's shocking and graphic imagery really come in to force. Miike is uncompromising in his approach with regards to what he delivers on screen. There are no subtleties, no off camera goings on; it is all there for the audience to see, in full detail! The torture scenes, and their results, are especially horrific. If this film had been made in America or Europe, it would have been banned within a second of being made, it's that graphic. What disturbed me more than the disgusting imagery however, were the characters. Ichi's character I found genuinely terrifying as whilst he often comes across as a cartoonish character, there is a disturbingly real quality to his character. Ichi's childlike naivety draws many parallels to past psychotic killers that have existed in real life and his sexual excitement at causing pain and death is incredibly unsettling. Also unsettling is the character of Kakihara. His badly scarred face and clips either side of his lips immediately make him appear a scary figure and the only thing more disturbing than his pleasure for torturing others and watching their pain is his unparalleled love for being beaten and tortured himself.What I like about many Asian films is that the acting is often very good and Ichi the Killer is no exception. Tadanobu Asano is brilliant as Kakihara. His performance is charismatic and terrifying, he does a great job of making the role his own. Nao Omori plays Ichi perfectly. The way that he can act tormented, childish and merciless all in one scene is incredible to watch and, as I said before, gives the film a genuinely disturbing edge rather than just immense gore. Alien Sun is very sexy as Karen and the way she speaks more than one language in an almost random fashion adds further mystery to this film. The fact that Karen is the only character who has Ichi's past explained to her from Jijii makes the audience able to empathise with her character more than anyone else. Shinya Tsukamoto is also very good as Jijii. His character is unravelled throughout the film and Tsukamoto is very convincing in his portrayal of what turns out to be a very complex character.The purpose of this film is to shock and it achieves its goal to the point where you almost can not watch. With extremely graphic gore and some intense surrealist imagery that Salvador Dali himself would have been proud of, Ichi the Killer will never be forgotten and deserves to be watched by a lot more people even if they can only watch it once! . Miike is very clever with his direction. The way he blends Kaneko's flash back sequences with the present does wonders to keep the audience's attention. The ending is also done with great style and is very effective in ending the film so it is down to interpretation of the audience.Despite being very hard to palate, Ichi the Killer is a fantastic film. Directing, acting, writing and score are all spot on and the quality of the film is very good. Not a film I could handle watching too regularly but definitely a film I'll want to watch a few more times in the future.

faster than speeding bullets and some of his works are not even worth watching. But once in a while he hits the spot and delivers a masterpiece and Ichi is by all means a masterpiece. A lot of people only see the blood, torture, gore and humiliation of the human body in Miike's movies but mostly he has a hidden or at least partly foggy agenda. Ichi is basically a film about a loyal yakusa henchman trying to find meaning in his life after his boss has been murdered and a murderer trying to find himself in a labyrinth of deception and lost memories. It is well played and very well made.Tadanobu Asano excels as Kakihara and Nao Omori is extremely good as the violent insane killer Ichi. The special effects has a realistic feel about them and you can almost feel the pain inflicted in this movie and there is plenty of pain to go around. Ichi is not a film for people with weak nerves or a dislike for blood. Miike likes to shock his audience and is a master in this field. He delivers the meat for the gore hounds and has a weird sense of humor....I give this little blood feast a 8.0

with genre formula being trashed at every point - the humor built and built. Any good characters children included were decimated or tortured. None were spared. Yet the film is a romp - from the complaining co-workers who grumble about having to clean up blood-drenched murder scenes they found intestines everywhere to the sado-masochistic special effects. The film has left turns into fantasy - then back again - it has intentional bad-acting scenes from previously capable actors - the camera work has a will of it sown - exposition that makes no sense.This film posits the questions: If you are going to be a bad-boy film director and take screen violence as far as it can go - no farther than that - NO REALLY FARTHER THAN THAT - to the point of blood almost every minute - what would the result be? Apparently the director feels that on the far side of excess violence and blood letting in glorious technicolor and grotesque special effects, the cinema would revert to a twisted sense of innocence beyond all that killing there is a comic sense of the universe .A film that should be seen - but you should be prepared for it. Not a classic - but a definite statement - more a cinema-artist's statement than a traditional film. Museums will find a place for it - families will abhor it.I got into it to my amazement. It stretched my mind about what should be so.