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Visitor Q Director: Takashi Miike Number of Items: 1 Format: Color Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: Media Blasters, Inc Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-11-26 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 "Mother's milk heals all family squabbles!" After viewing "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer," I doubted whether Japanese director Takashi Miike could shock me again. Boy, was I wrong! If you thought the piano wire scene in "Audition" went far beyond the pale, or the hot oil bath in "Ichi the Killer" left you speechless--as it did me--prepare yourself for the new nightmare that is "Visitor Q." The scenes in this film about a twisted Japanese family would make the Marquis de Sade leave the room in disgust. I have no idea what Miike was thinking when he made this film, but remember this one little fact--"Visitor Q" is a made for television movie. That's right, after viewing this movie remind yourself that this obscenity aired on Japanese television within the last couple of years. We Americans cannot put forth any prime time fodder that could even remotely compare to this atrocity, unless you count something like "Teletubbies." Thank goodness we still have a few qualms. As much as I distrust censorship of any type, I am definitely not ready to see something like "Visitor Q" on network television on this side of the pond. "Visitor Q" takes a penetrating look at your typical Japanese middle class family, Miike style. The father of this bizarre clan works as a reality television host who is always willing to go so far over the line in his broadcasts that his fellow workers shun the his very presence. The daughter of the family no longer lives at home since she is too busy putting in a full schedule at a brothel somewhere in town. The young son in this creepy household spends his days meekly submitting to a trio of bullies who beat him up after school. The mother is a real winner, a heroin addict and prostitute who allows her abused son to beat her with wicker canes. The mother and father fail to communicate on any substantive level. The son's problems with the bullies goes unheeded by the family, except when the father decides to fashion a new reality program centering on his child's beatings. The relationship between the father and his daughter is best left unelaborated on here; it is sufficient to say it is one of the most warped father/daughter connections in film history. Yes, this family suffers a host of psychological problems that would give a Sigmund Freud a coronary. All of these people are sick to the core of their souls, a problem that is about to undergo a radical change with the introduction of a complete stranger into the household. This anonymous (we never learn his name), scruffy looking youth first makes an appearance on the scene when he hits the father of the family on the head with a rock--twice. For some mysterious reason, dad brings this guy home with him for dinner. As time goes by, we see this chap increasingly integrate himself into the daily lives of the family. He sets his sights on the mother at first, rekindling a sense of motherhood in the woman in yet another unmentionable scene (there are a lot of unmentionable events in this movie). The interaction between the stranger and the mother is the most dramatic in the film, but eventually the father, son, and even daughter all fall under the spell of this enigmatic visitor. The end result of these odd encounters is a type of peculiar healing, where the family abandons their insane behavior and returns to a sense of normalcy. Obviously, "Visitor Q" is a Miike film, so the healing takes some really stomach churning turns along the way. After all, there is nothing like dismemberment and a host of other depravities to turn a family around! There has been some effort to emphasize the reality television elements of the film, but "Visitor Q" has little to do with this theme. There are only a few scenes that even deal with this element, specifically the first taboo shattering images between the father and daughter and a couple of other short bits later in the movie. What is really going on here has to do with the Japanese family and how it deals with the pressures of modern life in an industrialized society. Miike likes to shock with his films, and his target audience must surely have expressed such an emotion when they saw his take on a traditional Japanese family plagued with so many obnoxious psychopathologies. As weird as it sounds, I firmly believe "Visitor Q" is actually an extremely conservative film. Even as the director breaks the bounds of good taste, he seems to possess an earnest belief in the overriding importance of the healthy family unit. You could easily make the argument that images of the type indulged in by Miike have led to the breakdown of the family, and it would be an effective argument, but this movie does contain a strong pro-family theme. "Visitor Q" runs for about eighty four minutes, short compared to the other two Miike films I have seen. The picture quality is excellent. Extras on the DVD include four trailers--"Visitor Q," "Samurai Fiction," "Fudoh," and "Freeze Me"--some liner notes about Miike's films and a short biography about the director. Once again, Media Blasters has released another soul shattering movie to DVD. The disc I watched had a technical problem, though: whenever I hit the menu button on my remote control the picture went gray and I had to start the disc over again. Perhaps this flaw appeared only on my copy of the movie, but it's something to think about before purchasing if it is a widespread glitch. I look forward to watching more Miike mayhem in the near future. If you would like to examine this director's queasy visions, "Visitor Q" is the ideal starting place before moving on to the more complex "Audition." "miike at his brutally best" make no mistake, takashi miike does not hold back. but unlike his american and european counterparts (if such a thing could exist), miike's cinema is not about shock for the sake it as an exploitative device. he is a filmmaker who uses violence and taboo themes to get to the heart of the human condition. in 'visitor q', his most stripped down film, it is the examination of the family unit which miike has focused his lens on. the use of DV video makes it more startling, giving the viewer the sense that they are watching something more intimate as per home video or even pornography. but this is not pornography, it's a close dissection of human weakness, hope, strength, and the most startling of all - love. i'm a bit dismayed that many miike affectionados seem to relegate him as a genre director. miike uses the genre a vehicle for more subversive means and perhaps no other film in his cadre of work more exemplifies this than 'visitor q'. it is shocking and not for the faint of heart but if you stick with it to the end you will be thoroughly rewarded. "Miike's one sick mutha!!!" By far Miike's most disgusting and vile entry, but also very interesting and entertaining...even though, and I should warm you...not for the faint of heart or those with weak stomach, this film will test audiences to the limit! I couldn't explain the amount of grotesqueness in this film...almost every frame is as vile and sick as a garbage truck, but it is a masterpiece in its own right. you almost get the feeling that you 're actually watching a reallity show ...but a very nasty one. Takashi miike is a cinematic genious and this is his most disturbing and creative film so far. I won't review it because I hate reviews...but if you are not familiar with Miike's work, try Audition or Ichi the killer first. If you are able to finnish watching those films, or by any chance find'em entertaining (which they certainly are!!!) then move for Visitor Q ...but be prepared...this will shock the living crap out of you! "Strangely Uplifting" My only complaint with this movie is the low visual quality, it being shot on video, but the movie makes up for it in spades. Full of nearly every perversion possible, this is a movie which is hilarious in an extremely twisted way, and strangely touching in it's climax. A must own for Miike fans, purveyors of asian cinema, or the twisted. No freak or asiaphile's dvd collection is complete without this and Ichi The Killer. "bizarre metaphor for family life" wow. this movie really got to me. the first scene in the film establishes the depths of immoral and distastefulness that follows. opening with an intense scene where a man makes love to a young prostitute, then finding out who the prostitute is really strikes a nerve in you. the plot follows with almost no sense and no taste but presented with great acting and great direction. it's basically revolves around a family that each member has their own sick and twisted problems. normally in any other hollywood/american film you'd encounter only one of these problems [or some problems not at all] but all wrapped up together brings it together to produce a very interesting family. a visitor [i'm assuming 'visitor q'] enters into the situation. although i felt his actions weren't as impactful and uplifting as it should've been he still brought the whole family together in a well... less than wholesome way. with his violent and bizarre and intimate solutions, he teaches the lesson that "families should stick together under any circumstance". and trust me, some circumstances are incredibly messed up. this movie is one of those movies where you'll find yourself saying after many scenes "wow, i didn't think i'd ever see something like that in a movie" but then you'll be found laughing over it. it is disturbing, but really if you're like me and you watch a lot of these over-the-top movies it'll still shock you but not in a 'irreversible-rape-scene' kind of way. great flick, way more enjoyable and stimulating than 'happiness of the kitakuris'. takashi miike is awesome.