Don’t Know Much About Miike

By JR Pepper

I’ve been devouring various aspects of Japanese pop-culture for years, ranging from anime to J-pop, to the visceral world of Japanese horror to brilliant pop-culture nuclear color explosions that are the works of Takashi Murakami. And throughout all these things I’ve noticed one major concept.

But first, let me preface this article by saying that I believe their pop-culture by no means better than ours. Every single culture produces as much crap as a it does innovation. For us in the States, for every Dark Knight made there is a Spider-man 3. This is the case in other countries as well. For every great import film- there is always a lot more bad ones. In fact some of them are god-awful- not even worth having Crow and Tom Servo take a jab at it.

So okay, not everything that comes over from the ‘islands’ is worth anything more than a quick glance as you walk past the import section.

That is, of course, unless it happens to have been a creation of one of Japan’s most versatile, most controversial, and notorious directors, Takashi Miike.

Miike is unlike any American director in his sheer diversity of his film resume. Is there any other director that has an eccentric musical (Happiness of the Katakurias), a wildly ultra-violent yakuza film (Ichi the Killer) and Japanese Western ( Sukiyaki Western Django) on their resume?

Say what you want, the man is certainly diverse.

Although Miike has made over an astonishing 70 films (both in theatres and direct to video according to www.imdb.com) but really had not achieved a following in the States until his film Audition reached our shores. The film tells the story of Aoyama, a widower who subsequently finds the beautiful, sweet and outwardly submissive girl of his dreams through holding a fake film audition. The girl in question is named Asami, and slowly we learn that she was a victim of unthinkable abuse as a child- which has warped her mind and made her unable to either discern or care the difference between pleasure and pain. The interesting dynamic is how Asami- at once charming and the stereotyped definition of what would make a ‘perfect’ wife – quickly becomes a dangerous and extremely sadist threat. The film quietly builds to an astonishing climax where various acts of diabolical, methodical violence ensues. Unlike many American horror/slasher/suspense films- there is no musical build-up. The final scene is shot and shown as if it were happening in real time- and frankly- it can be very difficult to watch. She is a delicate and a beautiful monster in what is by far one of the best horror films I have ever seen.

Miike’s work often deals with largely various taboos including extreme violence, graphic sex, obtuse sexuality and bizarre character relationships- but his films also include a strong psychological dynamic as well. His film Vistor Q (which is oddly enough the ONLY movie that has ever made me queasy) includes so many obscene sex practices- that it would make the Marquis De Sade blush- but it also examines the dynamic of the modern day Japanese family and the growing distance between them. His film Gozu, includes a clown with a half painted face and a minotaur- and it feels very much like a tripped out David Lynch film. The film examines personality complexes, gender roles and obverse sexuality. The last scene explores the dangers of intimacy and will pretty much not only make your jaw drop but will scary the hell out of every male in the room.

Miike is also known here for his massively controversial work on Showtime’s Master’s of Horror program. His short film Imprint was seen as so wildly violent in its extreme torture sequence and subject matter – that is was rumored to have been banned from broadcast on American TV.

So, if you feel like taking a dive into the eccentric world of Takashi Miike, who incidentally is going to be premiering Yatterman at New York Comic Con, here’s Pepper’s list of her favorite “OMG What Did I Just Watch” Miike Flicks:

Audition- can’t recommend this enough. It’s always the pretty ones that are crazy.
Ichi the Killer- ultra-violence meets ultra violence- you’ll never think of shrimp tempura the same way again.
Gozu- like most things in life the best things come to those who wait.
Imprint- Too explicit for a network famous for it controversial subject matter? Hide the kids before you watch- not for the faint of heart. Sure to offend.
Dead or Alive-Yakuza wars? Grand Theft Auto has nothing on this.

***Folks 18 and up- and with a high tolerance for gore only for these films.***

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JR Pepper is a resident geek girl at her office and a trained art historian and photographer. When she isn’t engulfed in bizarre books and insane anime programs, she can be found consuming large amounts of caffeine and working on her artwork. Check out her stuff on www.pepperart.com and www.myspace.com/pepperart