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[TRAILER] Mad Dog jadi Yakuza di film Yakuza Apocalypse- The Great War of Underworld - YouTube
Takeshi Miike drops out of doing period pieces like 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri and returns to his gonzo/batshit insane Yakuza themed roots and manages this.
To explain it coherently is an exercise in futility - it's one part Yakuza opera, an abstract vampire movie and some parts social commentary about the Yakuza's dependence on their community and their contribution to Japanese society, and vice versa.
But that still doesn't explain the dude in the frog costume. There isn't really an explanation for that. That's one of many weird and bizarre things that populate the movie - other facets include a knitting circle of vampire feeding victims, a pilgrim looking dude who speaks only in English and I think is some kind of vampire hunter, and a Oyabun (Godfather of the organization) captain who has a really nasty, messed up ear infection that produces...well, it produces some pretty crazy stuff.
Miike is completely an acquired taste - he manages to churn out three, four or sometimes even five movies in a year. Some of his work is revered - Audition was one of the best thrillers I've seen, Ichi the Killer was notorious for it's over the top gore and violence (and is a midnight madness favorite) and the previously mentioned 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri are masterpieces of Japanese cinema. He even did an episode of Masters of Horror that couldn't be aired for the simple reason that it was deemed too disturbing to show on cable tv His work is almost featured yearly as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto Film Festival (this was part of the 2015 selection). But some of his other works are so completely out there and this definitely falls in to the latter.
I enjoyed this, but I've been following his work for a long time - nearly 20 years now. He's an incredibly talented film maker who has crossed into just about every imaginable genre and when he's on, he's incredible. This isn't his best work, but it certainly isn't anything boring.
Takeshi Miike drops out of doing period pieces like 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri and returns to his gonzo/batshit insane Yakuza themed roots and manages this.
To explain it coherently is an exercise in futility - it's one part Yakuza opera, an abstract vampire movie and some parts social commentary about the Yakuza's dependence on their community and their contribution to Japanese society, and vice versa.
But that still doesn't explain the dude in the frog costume. There isn't really an explanation for that. That's one of many weird and bizarre things that populate the movie - other facets include a knitting circle of vampire feeding victims, a pilgrim looking dude who speaks only in English and I think is some kind of vampire hunter, and a Oyabun (Godfather of the organization) captain who has a really nasty, messed up ear infection that produces...well, it produces some pretty crazy stuff.
Miike is completely an acquired taste - he manages to churn out three, four or sometimes even five movies in a year. Some of his work is revered - Audition was one of the best thrillers I've seen, Ichi the Killer was notorious for it's over the top gore and violence (and is a midnight madness favorite) and the previously mentioned 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri are masterpieces of Japanese cinema. He even did an episode of Masters of Horror that couldn't be aired for the simple reason that it was deemed too disturbing to show on cable tv His work is almost featured yearly as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto Film Festival (this was part of the 2015 selection). But some of his other works are so completely out there and this definitely falls in to the latter.
I enjoyed this, but I've been following his work for a long time - nearly 20 years now. He's an incredibly talented film maker who has crossed into just about every imaginable genre and when he's on, he's incredible. This isn't his best work, but it certainly isn't anything boring.
