殺し屋 1 - Ichi The Killer

"Put some feeling into it, already! If you're going to give someone pain, you've got to get into it!"Kakihara

☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece 

殺し屋 1 - Ichi The Killer  (2001) is a masterpiece of Manga cinema.

Directed by Takashi Miike.

Starring Tadanobu Asano, Nao Ômori and Shin'ya Tsukamoto among many others.

I've got to hand it to Takashi for creating Manga cinema. Miike took a cult Manga comic book by Hideo Yamamoto and brought it to life. Reportedly Takashi had approached Hideo to write a film script completely Manga form, but Yamamoto developed severe writers block and had to back out of the project.

The violence and sadomasochistic sex eclipses anything I've ever seen in a film or read in a book. The surprising part is that the violence is presented in such an over the top, surrealist style that it is actually quite humorous and Salvador Dali like visually. If you edit even one small violent or sex scene you destroy the perfectly laid out plot. The violence and sex are an integral part of the film as is the dialogue.

The scene below is one of many where Takashi employs an absurdly humorous situation to make the violence that ensues abstract and actually causes the viewer to disavow the cruelty. I love the Rock Star persona that Tadanobu creates for his sadomasochistic Yakuza character. The fact that Takashi has imbued Asano's character with the ability to blow his cigarette smoke from the sides of his face add to the absurdity of his persona.  The other outstanding performance comes from Nao who has to come across as a believable super hero, psychopathic killer with a child like personality and a bizarre sexual desire for his female victim. Ômori's difficult character reminds me of Choi Min-sik work in Oldeuboi - Oldboy (2003) who had to eat four live Octopuses in one scene.  

Film Scene

Trivia - Almost every member of the Yakuza in the film owns a gun, but only two shots are fired and no one dies by gunfire.

Film Trailer

Film Photos - Posters

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Film Transcript

 

Note - If you would like to view 殺し屋 1 - Ichi The Killer to rent or buy please click on the link below the comments. It is sponsored by Google, so it is the safest and most secure way to get a copy for your film library.

Viridiana

"I can't take my eyes off of you." Don Jaime

☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece 

Viridiana (1961) is a virtuoso cinematic exploration of the duality of man and life.

Directed by Luis Buñuel.

Starring Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey and Francisco Rabal among many others.


Buñuel is for me the quintessential maverick filmmaker. From Luis' first surrealist short film with Salvador Dali, Un Chien Andalou (1929) to his last film That Obscure Object of Desire, Buñuel never wavered from his iconoclastic, revolutionary filmmaking. Viewers of Luis' films are rewarded with a vast and varied oeuvre of masterpieces of celluloid. In Viridiana, Buñuel explores the duality of man and nature in a straight forward, non-surrealist fashion. On the one hand Luis shows us the face that every man and woman puts forward, on the other you see what lurks behind those men and women as life unfolds for them. Buñuel shows his characters and presents their stories in a non judgmental and humorous way. Characters are put into sticky situations and we get to see not only how they react to their predicament but how they change. Luis is like a lawyer who let's a judge pass judgement over their clients actions allows the viewers to come to their own conclusions on his characters and their actions within the story.

In the scene below carefully watch the dog on the opposite cart. Buñuel is playing with his audience to get them to pay attention to life's duality. The narcissistic, illegitimate son does a good deed and Luis shows through another passing dog tied to the back of a similar cart that life is not so simple. There are an endless parade of helpless creatures to save. Enjoy!

Film Scene

Trivia - Script originally approved by Spanish authorities, completed film banned by them and denounced by Vatican after winning Palme d'Or at films first screening.

Film Trailer

Original Script

Un Chien Andalou

"Dali and I made a silent film about our dreams." Bunuel

☆☆☆☆☆  Masterpiece

Un Chien Andalou (1929) is a silent short film masterpiece that revolutionized, scandalized, and forever changed cinema.

Directed by Luis Bunuel and co-written by Luis and Salvador Dali.

Starring Simone Marueil, Pierre Batcheff, Luis Bunuel and salvador dali among many others.

Bunuel and Dali showcased the potential of cinema to be more than just stories with narrative. It is a filmed with visuals and stories that don't make sense.

The key to understanding Un Chien Andalou is that it mirrors our dream world. Both Bunuel and Dali said they made it like their dreams. Luis was staying at Salvador's house in Paris. Bunuel told Dali about a dream he had of a cloud that sliced a full moon, like a razor slicing through an eye. Dali then told Bunuel about his dream of ants coming out of a hole in the palm of his hand. Dali suggested they start the movie right there. Bunuel asked his mother for a little money to make the short film. Dali and Bunuel wrote the screenplay while Bunuel acted and directed it. The film was completed in a few days. Luis and Salvador had only one rule; they would only film irrational images and not try to explain them. Just as their dreams had no logic or order so does their completed masterpiece.

I understand Bunuel on a spiritual level. When you watch Un Chien Andalou or especially Bunuel's later films, let the images Luis gives you, help you create your own story. Bunuel's images can mean anything you want them to mean, just like your dreams, which can be interpreted anyway you want. Make this irrational film, as rational as you would your dreams. Enjoy!

Film Scene

Trivia - The priest who is being dragged with the piano is Salvador Dali.

Film Trailer