Ichi the Killer

I really had no idea what I was in for with this film (frankly I was deathly scared to watch it but a friend kept daring me to and calling me "chicken" (I was bullied, you might say, just like our poor film's protagonist antisuperhero - God love him, you really CAN'T help but feel sorry for this kid, even as TOTALLY messed up as he is), so that I finally capitulated to the experience), and I am a little squeamish (well honestly, MORE than a little) by nature so that cinematic violence, or any kind of violence for that matter, typically repulses me with the greatest intensity and I shy away from violence in art imitating life or life imitating art at every turn. Yet "Ichi" cannot be judged because of its violence. This film is PURE ART because of the way it ABSOLUTELY HAUNTS you, with its deep psychological questions (where DO we draw the line between pleasure (happiness!) and pain (misery, despair, depression)? Answer - everybody draws the line a little bit (or a LOT, in the case of THIS movie) differently; spiritual quandaries (for example, Ichi's existential conundrum cum (no pun, or Ichicum, intended) epiphany: "she wants to die because she DOESN'T want to die!" My God! This film is what superior modern moviemaking at its highest fever pitch is ALL ABOUT! Way to go Miike!!!Despite "Ichi's" WAY-over-the-top breakneck (and often "spray neck!") graphic psychodramas, there is every range of human and even humane emotion and sentiment to be found in this amazing masterwork. Unlike the PURELY exploitational horror flicks of Andy Warhol, for example ("Dracula," "Frankenstein"), director Takashi clearly shows love and compassion, albeit in very modest quantities, towards almost ALL of his characters. I cried almost every scene in which the poor beleaguered excop Kaneko struggles heroically to retain his integrity and honor in the face of near TOTAL "loss of face" (orientally speaking). When Kaneko dies near the film's climactic denoument, I wept bitterly because HERE is a GOOD MAN - SO GOOD, he does not want to kill Ichi, but only shoots him in the foot to try and stop him from rampaging further. Because Ichi is mentally insane he kills his "brother," but not without concomitant and extreme followup torment afterwards. When Ichi says "I'm sorry" endlessly, HE MEANS IT!!! He's just so messed up inside, and nobody (except Kaneko) gives a care about him, but instead Ichi really IS constantly bullied, harassed and hideously manipulated (by the diabolical excop "Jijii"). Did Ichi REALLY kill his parents, or can we trust anything Jijii says at all?Yet! Even Jijii is a figure for compassion in the end, because he regrets the carnage he's unleashed and the damage he's wreaked upon the innocent and the not-so-innocent alike, that - Judas-like - he hangs himself in the closing scene - because he realizes finally he's BETRAYED the goodness within his own soul, caused the deaths of COUNTLESS people, and violating his own ethics as a police officer to "protect and to serve." We see him pitying the death of Kakiharo, stroking the young man's bleached-blonde hair, almost lovingly. Yes, there IS a homoerotic element in this moment, but much more importantly, the failed yearning for a compassionate resolution to the incendiary Japanese gang crisis. All Dead! All Dead! That's how the final caption reads psychologically here, and what is left for Jijii? It's clear he actually LOVES Kakiharo, and thus commits suicide when his beloved is gone. Amazing!This movie has more twists and turns than a python roller coaster, and if you can get past (or close your eyes) during the really HEAVY (gruesome) scenes, you will see some top-flight acting and some even GREATER attempts at exploring the inner workings of the human mind, heart and soul.Now I never thought I would be so HIGH on a whacked-out horror film like this, but like I said, it's HAUNTING. It's addicitng and it brings you back to watch it again, and again, to find out the subtleties you missed in viewings n-1, n-2, and so on.Do see "Ichi" if you can. It satisfies a kind of "itch" in all of us, more or less. It certainly satisfied me, and I am the biggest coward of them all when it comes to stomaching horror lore. But I fell in love with "Ichi," for reasons not altogether clear to me even now, except that in every character I encountered, I felt deep compassion towards him or her. I tried to understand exactly WHERE he or she was coming from (psychologically/spiritually/emotionally/mentally), and just tried to suspend all judgment as best as possible.You will too, if you give "Ichi" a scratch, and a fighting chance to capture your heart, without tearing it completely out of your chest. If you treat the film as cathartic psychodrama rather than "cinema verite," you will go a LONG LONG WAY towards understand what Miike is trying to get across to all of us.He's definitely NOT advocating violence for violence's sake. But instead, love. It's just that, a lot of these poor souls in the story don't know HOW to love properly, because they themselves have never BEEN loved properly. Miike is offering us a "morality play" and a hope for more humane treatment of our fellow passengers and soulmates on the one ship we all share, Spaceship Earth. Again, WAY TO GO MIIKE!!!

Takeshi Miike's legendary and controversial 2001 film adaptation of the manga "Ichi the Killer" will always be a rough looking film. It was filmed in 16 millimeter, telecined to HD video for post production, and then filmed out on 35mm inter-negative for the making of release prints.Previous DVD and blu-rays of the film have looked terrible. A lot of people blamed that on the process that the film was made. I called shenanigans on those assertions stating that these prior releases were simply botched transfers and that someone needed to at some point do a full blown HD restoration of this classic and notorious film.Enter Emperor Motion Pictures who in 2017 oversaw a full 4K restoration of the film from the 35mm internegative. After a brief film festival circuit run which received rave reviews, Well Go USA would get the rights to release what is intended to be the definitive blu-ray release of "Ichi the Killer" in early 2018.I can say with resounding praise that they succeeded! This new remastered blu-ray is truly like seeing the film again for the first time. There have been some people grumbling as to why they didn't go back to the original 16mm film stock. That simply was not possible with how this film was made.Presented in 1.85:1 in its uncensored director's cut form, colors are much improved. Most importantly contrast and film grain is much better resolved. Now people expecting this disc to resemble a modern film need to keep their expectations in check. While this transfer is definitive, the film itself will always be rough around the edges visually which is what was intended when it was originally made. Detail is considerably better than before and this is most noticeable in the blood and gore shots of which fans know there are many. My only small quibble is why Well Go USA chose to go with a single layer disc rather than dual layer to increase the bit rate a bit more. Now don't don't get me wrong, the bit rate gets into the mid 20's during busy sections so no compression artifacts are to be found. But with a dual layer disc, this could have been increased even more. On the audio side, it is presented in 5.1 master audio and sounds great. I should mention that Well Go USA chose to drop the English dubbed track from past releases in favor of only the original Japanese track with English subtitles which I am perfectly fine with.Sadly no new extras are included though they did port the commentary track, still gallery and trailer from prior releases. I would like to have seen them include new extras highlighting the film's still influential legacy but the new transfer is fine by me as is.While "Ichi the Killer" most certainly will not be for everyone (the various instances of brutal violence towards women throughout the film do still make me wince), as a piece of groundbreaking transgressive cinema, it is one of the best. Fans of the film can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that someone has given this film the care and attention that it rightfully deserved!

Oh it's a great movie about the little Guy finishing off bullies,gang members, all the while juggling a relationship (that's odd, but passionate)

The movie looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, but what bummed me out was the lack of special features. The Blood bag Edition that's on DVD has two hours of behind the scenes, interviews, and trailers but this only has stills. Very disappointed on that end but all and all, it's a decent buy.