Takashi Miike: Contemporary Japanese Auteur Brandon Rife COM 329: Contemporary Film Dr. Neuendorf

Background Went to film school due to lack of entrance exam Disliked school, rarely attended class Began work as a PA Big Break: V-Cinema (low-budget direct-to- video movies) Continues to alternate between big studio and small V-Cinema films

Influences Favorite Film: Starship Troopers (1997) Favorite Filmmakers: David Cronenberg Akira Kurosawa Hideo Gosha David Lynch

Themes, Motifs & Trademarks Extreme violence and sexual perversion Over-the-top, cartoonish bloodshed Black humor Pushing the boundaries of censorship in Japan Ambiguous or bizarre endings

Film: Audition (1999) Horror/Thriller A widower holds an audition to find a wife, but the girl he picks is not what she seems… Someone fainted at the Swiss premiere and was taken to the ER Miike’s first major international success Trailer: =yhsrsWcEspc =yhsrsWcEspc

Film: Dead or Alive (1999) Action/Thriller A Yakuza of Chinese descent and a Japanese cop wage war against the Japanese mafia… Budget: ¥500,000 Trailer: atch?v=pVweJQQyJA0 atch?v=pVweJQQyJA0

Film: Ichi the Killer (2001) Thriller A Yakuza enforcer encounters a psychotic killer while searching for his missing boss… Barf bags given at TIFF Based on a popular and extremely violent Japanese manga comic Trailer: =haiSf60UsPQ =haiSf60UsPQ

Film: One Missed Call (2003) Horror/Mystery People die after receiving voic s of their future selves dying violently… Japanese sequels: One Missed Call 2 (2005) One Final Missed Call (2006) U.S. remake: One Missed Call (2008) Trailer: =-V3M65itr6I =-V3M65itr6I

Short Film: “The Box” (2004) Horror Japan’s contribution to Eastern horror anthology Three… Extremes (2004) Anthologized with… China: Fruit Chan’s “Dumplings” Korea: Chan-wook Park’s “Cut” Trailer: atch?v=4-lnf01j7kw atch?v=4-lnf01j7kw

Film: Izo (2005) Samurai/Fantasy A dead samurai’s spirit roams time and space to seek revenge… Inspired by Hideo Gosha’s Hitokiri (1969) Teaser Trailer: atch?v=wHuwp1idv3w atch?v=wHuwp1idv3w

Film: Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006) Drama/Fantasy Male prisoners confide stories of their “crimes” in one another… Heavily formalistic Official Selection: Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festivals Miike considers this his “masterpiece” Teaser Trailer: =htogRp-kBDU =htogRp-kBDU

TV Episode: “Imprint” (2006) Horror A man returns to Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with and discovers what horror befell her after he left... TV Series: Masters of Horror Never played on TV Showtime refuses to air it due to content Full episode: v=C248DmRYbqU v=C248DmRYbqU

Film: Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) Action/Western A gunslinger encounters warring clans hunting for hidden treasure… Venice Film Festival: “Golden Lion” nominee Combined remake of: Yojimbo (1961) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) Django (1966) Trailer: =9-TGaGa3QAc =9-TGaGa3QAc

Film: Detective Story (2007) Horror/Thriller A detective tracks a twisted killer who paints portraits with the blood and innards of his victims… Trailer: atch?v=aPve3O-TgW4 atch?v=aPve3O-TgW4

Film: Crows Zero (2007) Action/Thriller In Japan’s most violent school, the students battle each other for influence and power… Japanese sequel: Crows Zero 2 (2009) Teaser Trailer: atch?v=8wpCRXmF7nY atch?v=8wpCRXmF7nY

Film: 13 Assassins (2010) Samurai/Drama A band of assassins join forces for a suicide mission to overthrow and kill an evil warlord… National Board of Review: Top Five Foreign Film of 2011 Remake of: The Thirteen Assassins (1963) Trailer: =NgPC74-Tde8 =NgPC74-Tde8

Additional Sources of Information Video Interview - BBC: atch?v=_DwvvXZyMqE atch?v=_DwvvXZyMqE IMDB.com: /nm /bio /nm /bio Non-Video Interview - Kamera.co.uk: olumns/scream_theory_27 _08_2002.html olumns/scream_theory_27 _08_2002.html Non-Video Interview - Midnighteye.com: m/interviews/takashi-miike/ m/interviews/takashi-miike/ Video Interview - Venice Film Festival: atch?v=-B9G6PF5EFw atch?v=-B9G6PF5EFw Wikipedia.org: Takashi_Miike Takashi_Miike