| "Takashi Mike's GOZU" |
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Gozu
DVD/APPROX. 129 MINS/2003/JAPAN R18+
DVD/APPROX. 129 MINS/2003/JAPAN R18+
7
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WTF? I mean seriously, what the fuck did I just watch? I've seen some strange films in my time but this has got to be the weirdest, most out there
thing I've seen. Gozu makes Eraserhead look mainstream. In fact if David Lynch had gone to Japan and eaten a big plate of bad puffer fish he
might well have hallucinated this film.
However this isn't the work of Lynch but of the reigning bad boy of Japanese cinema Takashi Miike. I'd heard this was a bizarre film, but having
seen a few of Miike's other films including Ichi the Killer, Imprint, and The Happiness of the Katakuris I figured I knew what to expect. I was
wrong.
The film's premise is deceptively simple. Low level Yakuza Minami, (Hideki Sone) is instructed to kill his beloved but quite mad mentor Ozaki (Sho
Aikawa). On his way to the junkyard where the execution is to occur a river, sans bridge no less, mysteriously appears in the road. The resulting
panic braking session manages to break Ozaki's neck. Rather than solving any problems this just makes matters worse when the body vanishes
from the back of the car. From here things rapidly head into the surreal.
It's as though at this point they threw away the script, took a large dose of shrooms and started making it up as they went along. The characters
become more bizarre, ranging from cross-dressers, to a beautiful woman with all of Ozaki's memories to a bovine headed creature. Gozu
translates to “cow head” as a matter of fact and supposedly guards the gateway to hell. Fitting choice I'd say.
This is not to say that the film isn't coherent. It does follow a certain dream, (or should I say nightmare), logic and is true to it's own sense of
reality. But then again it’s not really a film about reality. It's a symbolism heavy trip inside Minami's mind and subconscious.
Now if you went looking through my subconscious you would probably find some large guns, strippers, drugs and several naughty cheerleaders
who need spanking. But this poor guy has the guardian of hell, a woman who sells her breast milk and the skins of dead Yakuza hung up like suits
in a closet lurking in his. Add in some gore and violence and you have one hell of a ride. Whether or not you want to take that ride will depend on
your taste for the bizarre and how much attention you're in the mood to pay the film. And in case I make it sound too intellectual I have to admit,
even though most of the symbolism and such went right over my head I still enjoyed it as a balls out bit of weirdness. A large bag of your favourite
herbal mix may help with that...
I watched the R4 disc from our sponsors Siren Visual and the extras are ok, but nothing overly much. A behind the scenes look at the filming which
is interesting, but given both the film and filmmaker involved could have been a lot more interesting.
So to sum up here we have a highly cerebral, deeply symbolic piece of art house-horror that can be enjoyed on that level for the deep thinkers or
as a wild ride into the heart of weirdness for those who just like it on the strange side.
thing I've seen. Gozu makes Eraserhead look mainstream. In fact if David Lynch had gone to Japan and eaten a big plate of bad puffer fish he
might well have hallucinated this film.
However this isn't the work of Lynch but of the reigning bad boy of Japanese cinema Takashi Miike. I'd heard this was a bizarre film, but having
seen a few of Miike's other films including Ichi the Killer, Imprint, and The Happiness of the Katakuris I figured I knew what to expect. I was
wrong.
The film's premise is deceptively simple. Low level Yakuza Minami, (Hideki Sone) is instructed to kill his beloved but quite mad mentor Ozaki (Sho
Aikawa). On his way to the junkyard where the execution is to occur a river, sans bridge no less, mysteriously appears in the road. The resulting
panic braking session manages to break Ozaki's neck. Rather than solving any problems this just makes matters worse when the body vanishes
from the back of the car. From here things rapidly head into the surreal.
It's as though at this point they threw away the script, took a large dose of shrooms and started making it up as they went along. The characters
become more bizarre, ranging from cross-dressers, to a beautiful woman with all of Ozaki's memories to a bovine headed creature. Gozu
translates to “cow head” as a matter of fact and supposedly guards the gateway to hell. Fitting choice I'd say.
This is not to say that the film isn't coherent. It does follow a certain dream, (or should I say nightmare), logic and is true to it's own sense of
reality. But then again it’s not really a film about reality. It's a symbolism heavy trip inside Minami's mind and subconscious.
Now if you went looking through my subconscious you would probably find some large guns, strippers, drugs and several naughty cheerleaders
who need spanking. But this poor guy has the guardian of hell, a woman who sells her breast milk and the skins of dead Yakuza hung up like suits
in a closet lurking in his. Add in some gore and violence and you have one hell of a ride. Whether or not you want to take that ride will depend on
your taste for the bizarre and how much attention you're in the mood to pay the film. And in case I make it sound too intellectual I have to admit,
even though most of the symbolism and such went right over my head I still enjoyed it as a balls out bit of weirdness. A large bag of your favourite
herbal mix may help with that...
I watched the R4 disc from our sponsors Siren Visual and the extras are ok, but nothing overly much. A behind the scenes look at the filming which
is interesting, but given both the film and filmmaker involved could have been a lot more interesting.
So to sum up here we have a highly cerebral, deeply symbolic piece of art house-horror that can be enjoyed on that level for the deep thinkers or
as a wild ride into the heart of weirdness for those who just like it on the strange side.
| BUY DVD @ SIREN VISUAL.COM.AU |
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