Gozu (2003)

Movie Rating R Contains: Strong Language Violence Graphic Violence Sex Nudity Mature Situations

Director: Takashi Miike Movie Genre: Surrealism, Yakuza Country: Japan Gozu Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 7.0 Writing: 8.0 Acting: 7.5 Cinematography: 8.5 Sound and Score: 5.0 Functionality: 8.0 Presentation: 8.4 Genre Comparison: 9.0 General Comparison: 7.5 Overall: 7.7 Reviewed 2005-11-28 23:39:21

Takashi Miike’s Gozu is one of the least conventional yakuza movies ever made. The story is about Minami, a yakuza underling, and his insane best friend and superior, Ozaki. When Ozaki’s insanity becomes too much of a liability for the yakuza family, the boss orders Minami to take Ozaki to the yakuza dump in Nagoya to dispose of him. As soon as the two men arrive in Nagoya, Ozaki disappears and Minami has to track him down in order to fulfill his obligations.

The script, by longtime Miike collaborator Sakichi Sato, is extremely unusual. The Nagoya depicted in this movie, populated with the usual ragtag bunch of Miike movie characters, is one of the strangest cities ever to appear on film. These occupants include the man whose skin condition looks identical to peeling makeup, the innkeeper’s sister who is overly proud of her breast milk, and the beautiful young woman claiming to be Ozaki who shows up shortly after the male Ozaki’s disappearance, just to name a few. This surreal Nagoya seems to be controlled by a cow-headed demon named Gozu.

Miike turned this small country town into a caricature of reality. The people and places in this town are all symbolic of Minami’s changing bond with Ozaki. The stylistic elements of this movie have been compared to those of American director, David Lynch and Miike has even openly stated that the modern surrealism of Lynch’s work was an inspiration for the look and feel of Gozu.

This movie is strange, even by Miike’s standards. At times, Gozu travels into territory where no viewer is safe. There are also a few scenes that have to be taken with a grain of salt in order for them to be enjoyable. The whimsical, fairy-tale world that this movie creates is a welcome diversion from even the standard Asian movie fare.