View Larger Image

Gozu Director: Takashi Miike Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 129 minutes Studio: Pathfinder Home Ente Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-11-23 Buy from Amazon

From Description From the acclaimed director, Takashi Miike, comes a Yakuza/horror film to shock and amaze audiences everywhere! When Minami is sent to kill his mentor, Ozaki, who is in the midst of a nervous breakdown, he embarks on a journey of unexplained natural phenomenon that only the director of such films as Audition, Dead or Alive and Ichi the Killer can provide in this surreal Lynchian/Cronenberg-like odyssey!

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.0 "Miike simply imitating, not inspiring" I am a fan of Miike and have a set of DVDs that I revere as brilliant movies in many ways (Rainy Dog, Dead ro Alive, Ichi, Katakuris), but this one I found unbearable. At his best, even when possibly imitating the works of others, Miike rises above all forms and creates movies that work wholly within themselves. At his worst, as he is in this movie, he looks like he's imitating someone he has no real understanding of. For this one, it seems that he wants to make a yakuza Lynch film, but maintains none of the bare threads that ever make Lynch interesting, even in an overly long, distracting movie (characters that quickly entice through their eccentricity, disarming plots that don't resolve but lead to intriguing moments). Movies like these make me wonder if Miike should slow down a bit, now that he's established himself, and take the time to make sure that his output is a little more consistent. "Why buy the Cow, when you can get the Milk for Free?" Pity poor Tokyo Yakuza torpedo Minami, who is having a really rough week. Let's see: 1) He's a hip, stone-cold, icy loyal, leather-clad Yakuza henchman in his prime with a flawless coif who packs the muscle for his Yakuza mentor and overlord Ozaki, a guy you seriously don't want to mess with, who also happens to be a real underworld mover-and-shaker and super-duper high in the Councils of the Yakuza Big Boss; 2) But lately, Ozaki (the great Sho Aikawa) has been a little bit off his game. Strike that: he's way on edge. Scratch that analysis: he's a total fruitbat. Calm enough to drop bombs on the outside, a festering adder's nest of shrieking, diseased neurons on the inside, all screaming to get free, fly forth, unleash unholy havoc! I gotta be me!, Master Sensei---I just gotta be me! 3) Oh, and Ozaki is all paranoid, too. He's big into Paranoia. He sees conspirators and assassins everywhere: that little dog, outside the restaurant, for one. It's a Yakuza attack dog, he confides to the understandably contemptuous Big Boss. It's quick, deadly, a wicked little beast, trained to slaughter Yakuza. 4) And he doesn't take that sneaky Yakuza ninja-dog stuff lying down, either, even if everybody else thinks he's batsh*t: so he beats it out to the front of the dive, administers a little bloody tough love to the unhappy pooch, and steers it head first into the diner window. 5) Now: violence in the service of the Family is one thing. Crazy bloodlust is quite another. So the problem: Ozaki's days are numbered. And Minami, his erstwhile trusty, loyal henchman, is ordered to drive him out to---well, a little 'meeting', where saner Yakuza brothers will present Ozaki with his early retirement package. And so Minami---with deep apprehension---chauffeurs Ozaki out in his vintage Mustang charger on the Big Bad's final mission. Well, with one little glitch: the Very Strange Little Village where Minami has to make a pit stop. And that's where the fun really begins. Now: has there ever been such a gloriously straightforward Takashi Miike film as "Gozu"? Now bear with me for a second, because yeah, it's true: "Gozu" is filled with baffling, practically esoteric, gorgeously grotesque and fleshy and seminal diversions, in which a young Yakuza thug could find himself easily lost, warped, perverted, maybe even destroyed. Or at least made really, really late for his gig. And make no mistake: "Gozu" stuffs the tatami-rooms and teahouses with Miike's parade of the bizarre, from Cow-Headed demons to lactating temple votaries, from undead transvestite waiters to well capitalized skin-suit manufacturers. It's lush. It's lavish. It's somewhat astonishing: "Gozu" may very well be Miike's most sensual and most philosophical film, bordering on sheer tactile perfection. It's that good. But that said, the best way to go into a Miike film is to drink down a mug or two of piping hot sake, and plunk yourself down in front of the infernal thing. You've gotta lose yourself in it: no expectations, no spoilers. You'll get none of that here, you devil dog, you. But what you will get is my pet theory, and see if you don't agree with me, once the credits roll and the sake's blast-furnace impact has worn off a bit: "Gozu" is a pretty honest, straightforward revenge flick. Ozaki tells Minami that the Boss is out chasing women, wasting time, ruining the gang. He tells him, early on, that things have gotta change, and that people might get hurt. Did he lie? JSG "It's not boring!" This is a trippy, surreal movie with very little plot and a lot of weird, interesting, squirm inducing scenes. Some of the situations are strikingly similar to Miike's equally disturbing film Visitor Q (check it out if you liked this). Yet the one thing about this film is it may not make sense, it may even gross you out but it most certianly isn't boring. I watched this with two friends and we laughed, squealed and scratched our heads thinking WTF? Imagine three gay men watching the graphic final scene. Yikes! Definitely one for the David Lynch fans. "Cow headed man in underwear dog getting whipped against a store front window isn't as entertaining as it sounds..." Well First let me say i love takashi miike movies everyone i have seen i have loved...except this one...This is very drawn out and the violence comes maybe every 1/2 hr or so witch is very slow for a takashi movie. I wouldn't call it imataion as some would say but I would say takashi was slackin in this movie. But really who can top audition ichi the killer and dead or alive. As fans I suppose its our duty if you will not to compare these to his newer films because there is no real way to top em. But it still leaves you thinking this movie could be better. As far as the all shocking ending yeah its nasty lol but completly un-realalistic and for me it ruined the shock value. if your just introducing yourself to takashi there are films you have too see before this one or you may get the wrong idea of his films. Not a bad movie just not takashi to his fullest potential. "HAS ANYONE SEEN THE LADLE?" FIRST OF ALL, AMAZON DELIVERED TO ME THE UNRATED DIRECTORS CUT, WHEN THE INFO SAYS THAT IT IS THE 'R' VERSION. AMAZON IS MISTAKEN IN THIS CASE: I DO NOT SEE HOW AN "R" VERSION OF THIS FILM IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT RUINING IT. SECONDLY, BUY THIS ONE FAST FAST FAST! THE PRICE WILL SKYROCKET JUST LIKE WITH "AUDITION". THIS FILM IS NOT FOR MOST PEOPLE. ALTHOUGH IT IS NEARLY WITHOUT THE COMIC GORE THAT MADE "ICHI THE KILLER" SO MUCH FUN, GOZU IS LOADED WITH NIGHTMARE UPON NIGHTMARE OF THE MOST BIZARRE AND CREEPY FREUDIAN IMAGERY, UNSOLVABLE SUDDEN MYSTERIES, AND A STRANGE AFFECTION FOR BODY FLUIDS, AND SOLIDS, TOO. ON THE OTHER SIDE, MIIKE HAS A GREAT TOUCH FOR THE HIGHEST PRODUCTION VALUES: LIGHTING, CAMERA-WORK, EDITING, YOU NAME IT, IT'S THERE. THE PACING IS SLOW, JUST LIKE IN AUDITION, AND IN THE END, THERE ARE NO ANSWERS. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, BUT WHO CARES. THIS FILM IS NOT FOR DVD PARTIES; TRY "ICHI" INSTEAD. SPECIAL NOTE: NO ANIMALS ARE ACTUALLY HARMED IN ANY MIIKE FILM: THIS IS NOT "MEN BEHIND THE SUN". MIIKE INSTEAD IS SO GIFTED AT HIS CRAFT THAT WE BELIEVE THAT THE BRUTALITY IS UTTERLY REAL, AND THE EMOTIONAL HOOK IS SET. A BRILLIANT, IF SHOCKING FILM IF YOU CAN TAKE IT.